Broken Bird Sing
by no.1Schizo
Summary: AU Kurt never went to spy on the Warblers but met Blaine soon enough as a new student to Dalton A broken shell of a boy he once was. Can Blaine break through the walls Kurt put around himself or give up on an obviously hopeless case? Klaine M for language
1. Broken

**Chapter 1: Broken**

Hello and welcome to my story. This is my first Glee story so I hope it ends up being okay. For those who have never read any of my work, a good portion of these OC's have been used in many of my other stories. Some see it as lazy or weird but I'm writing original work with them and this is my way of getting through some writer blocks or other character conflict while writing about something that I love, such as Glee. I love these OC's as well, they're really a part of me and they always worm their way into my work. I hope you like them, they will remain thorough the story and play parts in the plot. Don't worry though this is Klaine.

I'm not exactly sure where this story is going, but it popped into my head one day and I just can't get it out. Please don't review telling me stories like this have been done. This is my own take on a certain plot type. There's terrible language in this story and major homophobia, violence...uh thats all I can think of at the moment.

This is AU, Kurt never went to spy on The Warblers, but did eventually try to stand up to Karofsky with the same results. Remaining at the school, violence escalated until he was forced to leave.

Summary: AU. Kurt never went to spy on the Warblers, but met Blaine soon enough as a new student to Dalton, a broken shell of a boy he once was. Can Blaine break through the walls Kurt put around himself or give up on an obviously hopeless case? Klaine. OC's.

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><p><strong>-Blaine-<strong>

He heard the gossip. It was hard not to since the whole student body was talking about it. Most would think gossip was minimal in an all boy's school, but sometimes it was worse. Like the time Nikel and his girlfriend disappeared for a week and everyone was convinced they eloped or in the case of a mid-semester transfer such as this one.

"Hey Blaine, did you hear about-"

"Yes." He interrupted his friend with a polite smile, "The whole school is talking about it."

Wes stuck out his tongue, playfully, "I've heard so many reasons as to why Dalton is allowing this kid to transfer mid-semester, it's not even funny…well actually some were. Anyways, have you heard any?"

"Probably the same ones you have. The staff is keeping it really quiet. Let me guess, most of the rumors were started by Christof."

Wes snorted, "You know it."

They continued walking towards their dorm sharing the most ridiculous rumors they heard: such as him being a prince that was sent to learn leadership experience from an American education or an alien. Yeah they were that extreme.

As they entered their dorm building they were met with quite a few of their house mates standing in the commons room. Their Resident Advisor, Nikel, was standing on the coffee table, his hands up asking for silence.

Wes and Blaine wandered over to David and waited for Nikel to get everyone's attention, which was easier said than done.

After a couple of minutes of no luck, Nikel dropped his polite, calm Dalton façade and became his normal after-hours school self, "Hey, shut your damn yaps so I can talk! I've met girls who babble less."

Finally the noise level died down allowing Wes to get one final comment in, "What's the news oh fearless leader of the insane?"

Nikel shot him an annoyed look, running a hand through his shoulder length black hair that was only tied back during school hours, "Wes, don't you have a gavel to be pulling out of your ass."

David coughed back a laugh at that. Wes maturely flipped him off.

"Now to get to the matter at hand…put your damn hand down, Sammy. I'm sure everyone's heard something about the rumored new kid." A nod went through the group, "Well he'll be joining Warwick Dormitory starting tomorrow morning."

Immediately everyone started talking and Blaine could tell Nikel was getting annoyed again. He hated being interrupted.

"Hey!" Nikel yelled, "Clucking chickens. I'm not done!"

'Clucking chickens?' David mouthed to Blaine and Wes confused while Nikel impatiently waited for silence once again.

"Okay so he's coming here tomorrow. I don't know too much information about him so don't ask me. I do know he's transferring here from a different school located somewhere in Ohio. I don't know why or anything. He's a Junior, so I want everyone to be friendly, make him feel welcomed. Christof, you're better off not talking to him. Anyways that's all."

The noise level returned as everyone wondered about the new kid they'd be meeting tomorrow.

"Alright noise-makers disperse." Nikel paused, "By the way I need to see Zach and Blaine, right away." With that he jumped off the table and headed towards his dorm room for privacy. Blaine shrugged at David and Wes before finding Zach and continuing onto Nikel's room.

"Why us?" Zach asked, blowing strands of his ear length Blonde hair out of his eyes in annoyance, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

Ignoring Zach's obvious hair issues he answered the boy, "I'm assuming your presence might have something to do with the fact you no longer have a roommate. Mine, however, I am unsure of."

"Oh boy." Zach rolled his eyes, "I was enjoying my single life…wait you don't have a roommate either."

Blaine withheld a sigh, "Yes I do. Sammy, remember? Just because he usually stays at his house doesn't mean he's not my roommate. Besides I am the Junior RA, I'm not supposed to have a roommate since I have to deal with your rebellious ways. I only have one because I don't really care."

"Oh right, how has that little weasel been? I haven't seen or heard from him lately."

"He was at the meeting; actually he was standing behind to you. I assume the reason you haven't heard from him has something to do with him being pissed you call him weasel."

Zach shrugged, but didn't say anything for they had reached Nikel's room at the end of the hall.

Blaine politely rapped on the door and waited for Nikel. After a few seconds of no answer Zach became impatient and banged on the door.

"Open up, bitch, before I sneak in and tie-dye all your stuff."

Blaine groaned at his companion's uncouth method. Nikel yanked open his door and leveled Zach with a glare.

"Such a gentleman." He snapped, moving aside to let them in.

Zach raised an eyebrow, "Hey it worked. Come on, Nikel, you love me."

"Like a germ-a-phobe loves a city bus." Nikel deadpanned back.

Zach held a hand over his heart, "You wound me."

"I don't have time of this." Nikel grumbled, moving to sit on the chair near his desk, "Okay so I've called you two here specifically for you'll be dealing with the new kid before most of the others."

He turned to Zach, "Since you have an empty bed in your room he'll be rooming with you. This is against _my_ better judgment since you keep scaring your roommates away-"

"It's totally not my fault they can't handle my awesomeness, plus you have to admit putting me with Jamie was just asking for it." Zach interjected with a smirk, "He's a little bitch."

"Please behave, just this once." He turned to Blaine, "You've been excused from all your classes after first period to show the new kid around. You are to be at the Dean's office promptly."

"Why me?"

Zach butt in again, "Because you're so sweet, and polite, and patient and calm and-"

"Zach, do shut up." He turned back to Blaine, "Because you're the Junior RA and have a clean record here.

Zach stuck his tongue out at Nikel, "Whatever. Anyways are you still meeting us in the commons room for an epic round of Call of Duty?"

"Of course," Nikel replied, "Now get out of here so I can get my homework done."

"Since when did you become so responsible?"

"Since I had to start babysitting your stupid ass. Now get out!"

Blaine smiled at the two friends. At first glance most would think they hated each other -he did when he first transferred here- but since rooming with each other their freshmen year they've been close…annoyingly close.

The two boys moved towards the door, giving their RA the space he wanted. Just as he was about to leave Blaine asked, "What's his name?"

"Kurt." Nikel said looking at piece of paper on his desk, "Kurt Hummel."

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><p><strong>-Kurt-<strong>

"Do you have everything?" Burt asked, biting his lip unsure what else to say to his near broken son.

Kurt stood in front of him, eyes downcast, and simply nodded.

It broke his heart to send his child away to an unfamiliar place away from his family and friends. To a place where he knew no one when he was in such a state but he had no choice. Mckinley High was no longer safe. Since there was no proof to who damaged Kurt and Kurt himself wasn't talking, they couldn't expel the vermin's and press charges. They were still at the school. So once Kurt was released from the hospital plans were made for him to attend Dalton.

"Uh, are you sure you don't want to take more of your clothes? I know how much you like your, ah, scarves and stuff." Finn said awkwardly shuffling his feet.

"No need." Kurt answered in an unusually low tone, his voice lacking emotion.

What Burt wouldn't give to hear one of Kurt's snide sarcastic comments right about now. His confident, smart, sarcastic, fashion Sauvé diva of a son was gone replaced with a withdrawn, quiet, broken boy who was what the doctor called a selective mute meaning he rarely spoke. The doctor said it was Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, that he was detaching himself from emotions, as well as all the medication he was on. The father in him screamed for justice when he knew none would be had. If only he could smash that bully of a kid's face in, maybe he wouldn't feel so useless.

"Well, let's go kid. Don't want to be late for your first day."

Burt smiled as his wife went forward to give her stepson a hug then frowned when Kurt tried to withhold a flinch and stiffened at the contact. Carole and Finn weren't coming with giving father and son some time together.

After a couple words from Finn and last goodbyes the Hummel boys found themselves alone in the car and an awkward silence ensued.

Kurt turned his head to stare out the window. The bulky cast on his left arm was annoying and would hurt at random times. The bruises under his clothes had yet to fade and he anticipated more. No way did a zero-tolerance no bullying policy really exist and actually enforced in a High School. As far as he was concerned he was just trading old bullies for new ones with no friends or glee club to back him up and give him an outlet. He was trading one hell for another. His father looked so optimistic he didn't dare express his thoughts.

As they reached the beautiful gates of Dalton Academy for boys, Kurt tried to swallow the feeling of dread that settled in his stomach.

'_If you tell anyone I will kill you.'_

He managed to withhold the shudder that tried to course through his body. He closed his eyes for a moment telling himself he couldn't cry anymore.

'_Beg for it, fag. Beg for your life like the worthless butt humping bitch you are.'_

"Kurt." Burt called to him, breaking into his thoughts, "We're here."

He nodded and together with his father met the Dean. He was an older gentleman who carefully explained the rules of Dalton and the integrity it maintained. He went over Kurt's schedule and answered all Burt's questions. Kurt sat quietly and just listened while they discussed his fate.

When it came time for Burt to leave, it took all Kurt had not to cringe at the hug. He'd miss his father terribly but physical contact made his insides turn.

He forced a half-smile at his dad's parting words, "I love you, Kurt. Call me if you need anything and even if you don't. Everything will be fine you'll see."

They waited until his dad's car drove out of sight before the Dean led him back to his office.

"I'm sure you'll be very happy here, Mr. Hummel. One of our students, Blaine Anderson, will be here in a few minutes to show you around. He also boards at Warwick, the same as you."

Kurt just looked around the room while he sat in a surprisingly comfortable chair. Finally a knock on the door signaled his guide was there. He looked towards the door as one of the most handsome boys he'd ever seen walked into the room.

"Ah there you are. Kurt, this is Blaine Anderson. Blaine, Kurt Hummel."

Blaine flashed him a charming smile, "A pleasure to meet you."

Yep, he was in hell.

'_You see Homo, people like you aren't meant to be happy. Its people like us who make sure natural order remains and little fags like you stay in the closet.'_

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><p>Well, is it worth continuing? You won't learn what happened to Kurt for quite awhile, just snippets of his memory. There will be more interaction of Blaine and Kurt to come.<p> 


	2. First Impressions

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I'm glad people like this story. Though I'm not known for having any particular updating habits I'm going to try update about once a week at least for now. I'll have one more update after this one before I leave for a two week vacation. I'm hoping this very long road trip will give me plenty of time to write so I can update more frequently while maintaining decently lengthed chapters when I get back.

I, personally, believe I have problems with keeping people in character so I hope I managed to do okay. In the case of Kurt you will see his personally slowly peek through as time goes on especially when he's in inner monologue. Wes and David are out of character, more in character with how many in fanfiction see them rather than the show. Just a warning.

And don't worry this is definitely Klaine!

At the bottom of the chapter I wrote out the symptoms Kurt faces right now so be sure to check it out so all this can make sense. I did a ton of research among other things.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee just my OC's whom I love…usually…

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><p>As they walked down the halls of Dalton together, Blaine tried to get a read on his companion. He was silent only answering questions with minimal responses or nods, but Blaine couldn't bring himself to believe it was because he was rude or stuck up. There was something sad about the paler boy next to him. He couldn't quite place it.<p>

"Do you have any questions so far?" He asked another attempt to draw the boy into conversation. And yet he just shook his head. Blaine withheld the sigh.

"Are you hungry? The lunchroom should be open by now."

"Sure" Was the quiet reply.

Blaine grinned and led the way. Since most classes were still in session there were very few students in the lunchroom so the two boys made it through the line quickly and sat down.

"Are you a vegetarian?" He asked looking at the new kid's plate compared to his own as they sat across from each other. While Blaine had a burger and fries, Kurt had a small Caesar Salad.

"No." Blaine waited for more but soon realized none would be given. An awkward silence seemed to take over as every question Blaine asked was quickly shot down. As they sat more students began to trickle in.

"Ah the mysterious new kid has been revealed!" Wes teased taking a seat next to Blaine while David sat on the other side of him.

Kurt just glanced between them all quietly, before looking back down at his food avoiding eye contact with any of them.

Blaine sighed for what felt like the hundredth time today, "Kurt meet Wes Montgomery and David Thompson. Boys this is Kurt Hummel."

"Hi." He practically whispered, still looking at the table.

"What happened to your arm?"

"Wes!" Blaine snapped.

"What? You were wondering too." It was true, but it seemed almost rude to ask since the boy has been less than forthcoming with information.

The three looked at Kurt who wasn't meeting their gaze keeping his eyes firmly on the table.

"I tripped." Over someone's leg he added silently, "And fell down stairs." Well floor after a pair of helpful hands gave me an extra shove.

They didn't say anything right away and Kurt finally looked up to see if they maybe left.

"Well," David finally said, "remind us not to let you go up and down stairs alone."

Kurt's lips lifted just a bit to the closest thing to a genuine smile he's done in awhile. Before going back to eating he caught Blaine's look and knew. The boy did not believe him, at least, not completely. Strange. He had no reason to doubt him as far as Kurt was concerned.

"What do you do in your free time?" David asked, in between bites of food.

He shrugged.

"You don't know what you do in your free time?" Blaine asked, trying to laugh to ease the tension.

"Read." He mumbled.

"Do you play video games?" Wes pressed for more information.

Kurt shook his head. He wished they would stop talking to him. He just wanted to be left alone. If people ignored him he was less likely to get hurt. He wasn't about to tell them he did in fact play video games. Finn and Puck practically forced him to play COD with them once and he was surprisingly good. It had become a weekly thing for them for awhile, okay they pretty much had to force him to play every week but still.

After a couple more tries to engage him in conversation with little success they began to chat amongst themselves and Kurt stayed silent, listening.

He could tell they were good friends and their banter could be seen as comical. He missed that with his friends, but had to suppress a shudder as he thought of his old school. As lunch progressed various students stopped by to talk to the boys and meet Kurt. Most seemed put off by his closed off personality. It was better that way. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself.

'_All alone like he should be.'_

Finally lunch came to an end and the boys broke apart to continue their classes. Blaine brought Kurt to the dormitory next to show him his room.

"The office staff already brought your bags down," He explained as they approached the room. Kurt dug out the key the Dean gave him and opened the door Blaine indicated, "You'll meet your roommate later. He's a good guy, just hard on the nerves."

Kurt didn't respond which Blaine was getting use to.

"So our RA is Nikel, he's…well sometimes normal depending on his mood and the scenario. I'm the junior RA meaning I'll take over next year after he graduates. Your roommates name is Zach, like I said you'll meet him later. I'm two doors down to your left if you ever need anything." He pointed in the general direction, "If you want to start unpacking you can. I'll just stick around and help."

"Sure." He mumbled, opening his only box. He didn't need many clothes because of the uniform. The uniform was safe for him; he wouldn't give them a reason to taunt him. He only brought necessity clothes, hygienic supplies and 5 pictures. One of his old family, one of his new, one of New Direction, one of him and Mercedes and funny enough one of him and Brittany. He made sure Blaine didn't seem them so no questions were asked. He didn't want to talk about it.

It barely took fifteen minutes to set up. The whole time Blaine babbled on about different activities and sports Dalton provided. Not that Kurt could play even if he was into sports the cracked ribs and lingering concussion prevented that. Still he didn't really care; he listened just to have something to do. Plus the kid didn't really seem to mind if he was contributing or not which was good.

"I'm on the Warblers." He caught making him raise an eyebrow confused. Weren't Warblers birds?

"It's uh glee club here. It's really popular, we're practically rock stars." He answered the silent question, "Do you sing?"

'_Maybe you should sing a song about it. You parade around singing; you make me sick, acting better than us.'_

He shuddered, covering it up by shaking his head no.

A beep from Kurt's new phone saved him from further conversation. He looked at the text.

'You ok? Said you'd call when you got there : / '

"Great," He grumbled, putting the phone to his ear to call the usual bitch of the school back. Blaine raised an eyebrow and Kurt held a finger up with what he hoped was an apologetic grimace.

As soon as the other line picked up he spoke, "Sorry, forgot."

"God damn it Kurt, don't do that. Brittany was freaking out thinking she had to go find you in another hallway again." He heard some shuffling on the other end of the phone, "Are you having fun at camp?" He vaguely heard followed by a, "I told you he's not at camp, Brittany."

He could tell Santana was trying to be nice and he knew she was worried and so was Brittany. They were the ones that found him after all on that awful day. They saved his life.

"Sorry. It's fine, huge. I'll probably get lost at least once."

"Only once?" Brittany breathed, "I get lost a lot of times."

"Right." Santana muttered, "Have you checked out their glee club yet? I heard we're competing with them at sectionals. No holding back, Porcelain."

"Not joining." He sighed, sparing a glance at Blaine.

"Nobody will think you're betraying us or anything. Mercedes is practically demanding you join so we can sing against each other since we can't sing with each other."

"I said no." His tone didn't change. He didn't get loud or sound angry, he just sounded flat, dead even to himself. He almost hated himself for it.

'_At least I don't hide who I am'_

'_Well maybe you should.'_

He heard Santana sigh across the line, "Okay, nobody's forcing you. Mercedes wants you to email her. And text Brittany, you know she's not good with computers."

"Yeah." He looked at Blaine again, who was beginning to look uncomfortable, " I have to go, still touring the school. Bye."

He hung up, not really waiting for an answer though he heard Brittany call out for him to have fun at camp. Santana would probably throw a hissy fit about that later.

"Sorry. Paranoid, nosy friends."

"No problem. My first week here my mom and sister called me four times a day each, no joke."

A beep alerted him to another text. Slumping his shoulders he glanced at his phone.

'Don't hang up on me bitch. You made Brittany sad'

'Sorry San, bye boo.'

He put his phone away and met Blaine's gaze, "Where now?"

"Well I have to get to Warblers practice. You can sit in and listen if you'd like. You'll meet your roommate there."

"Sure."

Blaine frowned at the lack of enthusiasm in the boy's voice. Did he not want to go? Then again all his responses were like that.

"Well we should probably go then." He said, reluctantly, leading the boy to the Warblers practice hall.

Wes and David were the only ones already there. Blaine immediately went over to them chatting amicably while Kurt hung back, glancing around the room. It looked more professional, sophisticated than the choir room New Directions used. It also felt colder. Kurt quietly sat on one of the leather couches lost in his own world. He barely noticed that other boys began to filter in until one plopped uncomfortably close to him. He immediately shifted as far away as he could from the other boy.

"Wow, dude, chill. I don't bite…well unless you're tall, blonde and have an amazing…what?"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry. I'm Zach, your roommate since I'm guessing you're Kurt. You are Kurt right? I don't remember any other new people joining school today, so I'm sure you are. If you're not I'm really going to be making an ass of myself since there's some rules to sharing a room with me you have to know, like not touching my stuffed animal collection. You're Kurt right?"

Kurt blinked at him his eyes wide, what in the name of Gaga… "Yeah."

"Oh good, I have rules for you! Wait, are you joining the Warblers?"

"No. Blaine brought me."

He turned away from the overly excited boy to look towards a long empty table at the front of the room. He ignored the strange look he was sure Zach was sending him. He didn't need friends he told himself it was better that way.

'_Poor little fag, all alone like he should be.'_

"So what happened to your arm?" He turned back to Zach to see his eyes zeroed in on his cast and his index fingered pointed like he was about to poke it.

He winced, "I fell."

"Clumsy, eh? Don't climb on the furniture like Nikel or Blaine then. You might die."

Kurt's breath hitched at the word die.

'_You deserve to die, you know that right?'_

Before he could stop himself he scrambled off the couch and all but ran out of the room. As soon as he was out in the hall he took off running. He tried to run away from the pain, the memories but they followed him. They always followed him. He didn't know how long he ran but he finally collapsed against a wall his ribs screaming in protest.

A wave of dizziness washed over him and he groaned as his back slide down the wall. After a minute he slowly he stood back up and started down the hallway. He should've gone back the way he came but he was so flipped around.

He only went a couple of steps when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He screamed turning around to face his aggressor clutching his shoulder like it burned.

_Hands reached out and grabbed him just as he reached the end of the hallway, pulling him back and throwing him into a locker. _

"Shit man, I'm sorry. I just thought I'd come after you so you didn't get lost. Did I hurt you?"

Kurt's eyes were wide as he stared at Zach. He groaned as his head pounded and his vision blurred. The dizzy feeling was coming back. He saw Zach reach forward to grab him just as his vision went dark and he collapsed. His last thought was if Zach was going to hurt him, hopefully he'd finish the job.

'_Not so high and mighty now, are you?'_

'_Brittany, call an ambulance!'_

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><p>Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it. The connection between Santana and Kurt will be revealed like many other things slowly as time goes on.<p>

I want to put some symptoms Kurt deals with from PTSD (Highlight most common for him which is most of them):

**Recurrent distressing memories of the event and dreams  
>Physical reactions to situations that remind you of the traumatic event<br>Emotional "numbing**," or feeling as though you don't care about anything  
><strong>Detachment<br>Lack of interest in normal activities  
>Less expression of moods<strong>  
>Staying away from places, people or objects that remind you of the event<br>**Exaggerated responses to things that startle you  
><strong>Excess awareness  
><strong>Sleeping difficulties.<strong>

And his medication (Which actually doesn't get mentioned until the next chapter):

**Dizziness**  
>Fainting<br>**Feeling your heart beat in your chest (palpitations)  
>Headache<br>**Cough/wheezing narrowing airway  
><strong>Loss of appetite<br>**Nausea  
><strong>Drowsiness<br>Weight Loss  
>Uncontrollable shaking<strong>  
>Thoughts of suicide<p>

So he has a lot going wrong for him right now between the two. More gets explained as the chapters go and eventually you'll find out exactly what happened to poor Kurt. And a slow build up to Klaine.


	3. The Insane Roommate

I apologize for my late update. I mean to update about two weeks ago but sadly my laptop crashed and I lost everything. When will I learn to put things onto back ups I will never know.

I would like to thank everyone for all the wonderful reviews, they mean so much to me and are so unexpected, I love these characters and writing about them. You guys are awesome.

louise8959: I lost all my notes for the 'My Little Girl' story. Since I began writing it when I was re-watching the series and I haven't had much interest in watching it again I lost inspiration to rewrite everything I lost. I think I have my notes for chapter 7 still somewhere so I may type that up tonight since I've gotten many reviews asking about it, as soon as I find them. I do apologize but it's kind of taken a back seat and put on hiatus. I hope to have chapter 7 up tonight though.

Anyways, I'll just continue on with the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee just the OC's.

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><p>Kurt slowly opened his eyes, trying to blink away his blurry vision. This felt vaguely familiar. He swallowed his panic and carefully looked around.<p>

His eyes landed on a short, plump lady who was probably in her fifties. Her large Brown eyes widened when she realized he was awake.

"Good to see you're awake, Mr. Hummel. I'm Nancy, the school nurse. Do you remember what happened?" She noticed he glanced around, "We're alone."

"I fainted in the hallway." He replied carefully.

"Yes, your roommate brought you here…in full panic mode I might add." She pulled out a folder and began looking it over. He assumed it was some of the medical forms his father submitted.

"How long was I out?"

"For about fifteen minutes, you woke up and then fell back asleep. It's about six now."

Four hours? Who loses that much time without knowing it? Well besides him it seemed.

"Can I go now?" He asked, sitting up from the uncomfortable bed. School nursing beds were gross. He stared at the wall trying to focus his vision. He wasn't sure if the blurry vision was a side-effect of the meds he was on or a side-effect from the concussion and brain trauma. Either way it'd take a minute to focus again.

Nancy sighed, "Yes. If it happens again I'll have to report it to your father and physician. We'll chalk this down to first day nerves."

He nodded and quickly left after thanking her when she gave him directions to the dorms. There was no need to stress his father out over such a stupid incident. As he walked down the hallway he berated himself for his reaction to Zach's touch. He probably thought Kurt was a freak. He sighed, it was better that way. He would stay away now. Hopefully he didn't tell the others, he didn't need the tormenting to start so early.

"Hey Kurt, wait up." He froze and waited for Blaine to catch up. He should've kept walking; the look on Blaine's face told him this would not be good.

"Why did you run out today? Zach's afraid he offended you already."

Strange, he didn't mention the fainting. Didn't Zach tell him?

"Claustrophobic." He bit his lip trying to look embarrassed.

"Right." Blaine looked dubious, before smiling, "Sorry I should've warned you, Zach doesn't really understand personal boundaries of other people."

Kurt nodded. They continued on towards their dorm not really talking. Finally they reached Kurt's room just as the awkward silence had become overwhelming.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow. Breakfast is at seven. See you then." Kurt raised an eyebrow at the awkward shuffle Blaine started to do.

"Bye." Was all he said going into his room. He closed the door, staring at it.

"Don't freak out."

Kurt jumped and turned around looking to the right side of the room, a hand over his heart. Zach sat on his bed against his headboard, a DS in hand, moving his body to follow the moves on screen. He looked ridiculous.

"Dude, I said don't freak out. What goods a warning if you're going to do it anyways?"

He shrugged, going over to his bed. He sat down on the edge, looking at the pictures on his nightstand. He was waiting for Zach to bring up what happened earlier. He didn't want to talk about it, he had no idea what excuse he could possibly come up with to explain his behavior in the hall because he sure as hell wasn't going to tell the truth.

"So…" Kurt stiffened, waiting for the insults to fly, "Do you have a DS?"

He blinked, "Excuse me?"

"You know that's the second time you've said that to me in our brief encounters. Are you deaf by chance or I guess hard of hearing would be more appropriate given the circumstances. Or am I not speaking English? Do you. Own. A DS. I have no idea what DS stands for so that's as dumb down as it gets. I guess I'll have to ask Nikel what it means. He should know." He pulled out his phone with one hand and began to text.

"No?" He just stared at his roommate, not even realizing he just answered in his normal tone of voice rather than the lower range he's taken to lately.

"Was that a question or no you don't have one?" His phone beeped, "Aha! It means Dual Screen. Well that doesn't really sound right, do you own a dual screen. Pssh sounds like a-"

"I don't have one." He moved to lie down on his bed, interrupting his rambling.

"Dude, that sucks. I'm sick of playing Mario Kart against computers and Nikel told me if I bug him tonight he'll rip my balls off; I wonder if he counts that text I sent him as bugging him. Well I guess he'll have to try to rip my balls off." He turned to Kurt holding up a finger, "Which, of course, I think he would enjoy the process a bit too much. Nikel's our RA by the way and I think he's enjoying the stick they shoved up his ass for the job because he blows me off all the time to do work and chill with his ho -don't tell her I called her that- but we're supposed to be bro's. Don't you hate that?"

Kurt turned his head to stare at Zach, stunned.

"Do you ever shut up?" He couldn't help himself. Never in his life had he ever heard anything like it.

"Not while I'm awake and I've been accused of sleep talking so not while I'm asleep either. By the way, be weary of that. I have no filter while asleep so anything said should be taken with a grain of whatever that saying is."

"No would've been sufficient." Kurt grumbled, rolling over to feign sleep. He didn't want to talk anymore. He didn't want to make friends. He just wanted to be alone.

"It's only 6:30, you can't be going to bed yet." Zach gasped, "Plus I have to go over the rules of the room with you since I have to have a roommate. All my other roommate couldn't keep up with them all so they all left. How long do you think you'll last? Fine don't answer, I feel optimistic about you so I'll say two months."

He didn't answer or say anything. And his therapist thought he was insane, what was he rooming with? Maybe his Dad sent him to the mental ward after all. He took a deep breath and blanked his mind of all those thoughts.

He continued to lay there focusing on his breathing so he wouldn't think. He ended up listening to Zach curse and yell at Yoshi and Wario for whatever reason. Eventually it lulled him to sleep.

'_He barely made it a couple of steps before a foot shot out and tripped him. A pair of hands pushed into his back making sure he went down. He couldn't get his arms down fast enough causing him to belly flop to the ground, his arms out before him. His ribs and stomach pounded in pain almost blacking him out.'_

He woke up at midnight silently screaming. His head was throbbing and his chest heaved. He wouldn't sleep any more tonight. With a sigh he grabbed his laptop and passed the time emailing various New Direction members, looking up random fashion tips and other things to keep his mind off his nightmares, his memories.

Finally it was an acceptable hour to shower and pretend he just woke up. Once all that was done he walked back into his room so Zach could get ready.

As soon as the bathroom door shut Kurt opened up a bag under his bed and took out all his prescriptions: Sarafem for the depression, Prazosin for symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress and Seroquel which was an anti-psychotic drug for PTSD delusions. They helped with the headaches and sleeping problems…sometimes. They also made him very numb, more than he already was. His doctor was hoping to pull back on some of them soon.

He took them one by one before Zach could come back and ask unnecessary questions. Zach came back out fully dressed in uniform but wearing a tie-dye necklace with a peace sign on it. Seriously?

"Ready for your first day of classes at Dalton?"

He shrugged, not really caring. Much like Blaine his lack of answer didn't seem to deter Zach. What was wrong with these people?

A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts.

"If it's Nikel, know that I'm mad at you."

There was a snort on the other side of the door, "When aren't you?"

Zach pulled open the door, glaring, "Don't be a bitch, Nikel Christopher Kattalakis."

"I can do that too, Zachariah Amar Bendig. The Lord remembers making a home. What is wrong with your name?"

"Yeah well what's wrong with yours? Your parents must've thought let's give him a name he can't spell until he's twenty."

"At least my parents weren't on crack."

"Acid isn't better."

"Where the hell did you get that tie?"

What. In the name. Of Gaga. Kurt stared at the two completely baffled.

Blaine appeared at the door behind them. He didn't seem at all affected by their back-and-forth. Was this seriously normal?

"Boys, you're going to miss breakfast again if you don't stop."

"Pancakes!" Zach yelled suddenly making Kurt jump. Zach grabbed Nikel's hand dragging him from the room.

Kurt turned his attention to Blaine, who was staring after them, "I don't know how Nikel's girlfriend puts up with Zach." He turned to Kurt smiling, "Sorry about them. They've been friends since they were freshmen, so they're really comfortable around each other. They worried me too when I first started here."

He began to lead Kurt to the cafeteria. Along the way they met up with another boy who had dirty blonde raggedy hair and the sharpest Blue eyes Kurt's ever seen. He didn't fit Dalton's clean image at all. His uniform was unkempt and his tie crooked and loose.

"This is my roommate, Sammy Atra. Sammy this is Kurt Hummel, Zach's new roommate."

He didn't try to shake hands, something for which Kurt was eternally grateful. In fact, he didn't say anything at all, just nodded a hello and put a pair of ear buds in ignoring them.

"He's very into music." Blaine explained, "But doesn't sing. You should hear him play the guitar though; it'll blow your mind."

Kurt watched Sammy, who was slouched his head bobbing to the music. There was something about him Kurt could understand, the want to be left alone.

"Kurt?" Blaine's tone suggested this wasn't the first he tried to get his attention.

He turned to him with an eyebrow raised, questioning.

"I asked if you played any instruments."

"Piano." He responded before he could stop himself.

"Really? That's awesome. I play a bit of it myself and the guitar." He smiled at Kurt suddenly excited, "Maybe I could hear you play sometime."

Kurt held up his casted arm, "Probably not."

Blaine's face fell a little, "Oh well maybe after you get it off."

They entered the cafeteria, which was extremely noisy due to the amount of boys there unlike lunch yesterday.

Blaine led him over to an already crowded table and motioned for him to take a seat next to Sammy.

"New kid!" He startled, looking around for who spoke. Seriously, though, what was with all the yelling? So much for the gentlemanly exterior these boys put on. They were all nuts. Finally his eyes landed on a boy with short Brown hair and Brown eyes.

Blaine rolled his eyes, "His name is Kurt. Kurt, that's Thad. He's from Maxstoke Dormitory. He's also on the Warblers' council."

"Nice to meet you, Kurt." He smiled, holding out his hand. The smile and his hand slowly dropped as Kurt just stared at him.

"_Careful not to touch him too much don't want to catch the gay."_

"_Yeah I hear a single touch can turn ya into a fag."_

Everybody was looking at him now. He knew he was going to be labeled as a freak. That people were going to talk about him. As long as they didn't talk to him, he didn't want to talk. He didn't even realize his breathing was picking up, until Blaine put his hand on his shoulder.

"Kurt, are you okay?"

'_He increased the pressure on his shoulder with one hand and using his body so the others couldn't see what he was doing he dragged his other hand down…_"_Next time I'll get what I really want."'_

Kurt lurched up from the table and ran out of the cafeteria. The boys sat there, stunned.

"What is wrong with him? He's so weird." A boy with buzz cut Blonde hair and stormy grey eyes muttered.

"Really, Christof, like you're one to talk." Blaine snapped looking in the direction the boy ran off to. He wanted to run after him, to make sure he was okay, but he felt it wasn't his place. He barely knew the kid.

"I'm just saying he wouldn't even shake Thad's hand. What an ass."

"Watch what you say, it could come back to haunt you. We know nothing of his circumstances." They turned to see Sammy had taken his ear buds out and was glaring at the angry boy. The haunted look in Sammy's eyes was enough to silence Christof, though. They knew Sammy's circumstances and everybody knew not to push him.

Kurt avoided them the rest of the day, then the rest of the week. Not talking to anyone during class, coming in last and leaving first. After school he'd disappear until right before curfew, going straight to sleep so he wouldn't have to talk to his roommate, and then left before he awoke. Nobody knew where he disappeared to during those times and during breakfast, lunch and dinner, most gave up on him. Other's though, a very few amount, wanted to talk to him even more. Blaine was one of the second group.

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><p>No, bad Blaine you were suppose to chase after Kurt. I hate when my characters do as they please without consulting me…oh well. I hope you liked the chapter!<p> 


	4. Not So Friendly Dalton Boys

Sorry about the delay in updates. We've been having some problems at work and I've been picking up the slack leaving me little time to write. Don't worry I wont leave this story unfinished and I'm hoping to get some regular updates going soon enough.

Anyways, Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the lovely reviews. I'm glad people are liking the story. And happy scream Glee is almost back on TV and I'll have a ton of inspiration back! I can't wait!. Kurt talks a lot more in this chapter than any others. I'm hoping this is going to start a turning point for him.

Without further ado, to the story.

Disclaimer: I dont own Glee just the OC's. I also dont own 'The Lazy Song' thats by Bruno Mars.

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><p>"Are you settling into your new school?"<p>

Kurt looked at the woman sitting across from him. Dr. Baumer, his therapist. Her blonde hair was up in a tight bun and she always wore a soft smile, as if to reassure him. He hated her. They met three times a week at first but when he started at Dalton it was now just once a week, after school on Monday's.

"Yes."

"Have you made any new friends?"

Kurt thought back to Zach and Blaine, even sometimes Nikel. They were always trying to catch him so they could talk him. It has been two weeks since he started at Dalton and he's managed to avoid them so far; he was starting into his third week at the school and hoping to continue that streak. He didn't want to talk. Not to them, not to his father, his friends and especially not the person sitting in front of him.

"No."

She sighed, "Kurt, we've talked about this. You need to start making friends, to open up to people. They won't hurt you, not everyone is out to hurt you. We've been meeting almost a month. I have to say I'm not seeing any improvements, Kurt. You show very little emotion on what happened to you. Crying can be very healing, but you're bottling it up. I don't want to have to refer you to a psychiatric ward."

"I don't remember what happened."

"But you are aware you were attacked."

His eyes narrowed in on her. He wasn't crazy. He just wanted to be left alone. Was that so hard to understand? He was fine.

"There's some physical evidence to give to that conclusion."

"Kurt…" She sighed, "Okay I'm going to ask about some of your so called physical evidence to an attack and you see if you can remember what happened, okay? Can you tell me where you think the concussion came from?"

…_hoisted up by his shoulders and pinned him against a locker, his head bouncing off it roughly exploding with pain._

"Don't remember."

"The cracked ribs?"

_The punch across the jaw brought him back to the floor and the kick to the ribs slid him a couple of feet. He heard more than felt the cracking of his ribs._

"No clue."

She closed her eyes for a moment, "Think hard, Kurt. The broken arm?"

_With a laugh he came down hard on Kurt's arm with his foot, and a sickening crack was heard._

"Nothing."

She gave him a look like she didn't believe him, "The stab wound."

…_pulled his hand away to dig into his pocket and then Kurt felt a pressure in his stomach. His fuzzy brain couldn't even comprehend what it was, but it was painful. More blood spilt from his mouth. _

"A knife." She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off, "Time."

Dr. Baumer looked at her watch and sighed again, "So it is. Here's your assignment for the week. I want you to talk to at least one schoolmate a day. Have a conversation. When you come next week you'll tell me some of the conversations and we'll discuss it from there. Kurt, if you don't complete this assignment…I'm putting in the recommendation"

He got up and left without another word. He met his dad outside the room. He walked right past him and continued on towards the car leaving his dad to follow after he spoke to the therapist about his session and lack of progress.

"How'd it go?" He asked once they were situated in the car.

"I hate her."

"Kurt…"

"Nevermind."

"I…fine." Burt sighed; he didn't know how to talk to his son anymore. The littlest things would make him wince or stiffen and shut down completely.

They were quiet for most the ride. Finally, Burt glanced at his son as they approached the entrance to Dalton Academy and he knew he had to say something, "Maybe you should take her advice. I mean she went to school for this."

"She went to school to learn what she thinks is best for me?"

"That's not what I meant Kurt and you know it." He rubbed his hand over his forehead, "You're…hurting and maybe opening up will help. You don't even have to talk about what happened-"

"I don't remember what happened." He cut his dad off. His protest half-hearted.

Burt shot his son a dark look, "But you could have a conversation with someone about anything. You're, you're worrying me."

He stared at his dad, the worn expression on his face and he realized just how much this whole thing has affected him. He was causing his dad pain by being around; the attack should've just killed him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kurt knew that was the Sarafem talking, but he ignored it.

"I'm sorry I'm a bother." Before Burt could get a word in Kurt was out of the car and running into the main building. He leaned against a nearby pillar and closed his eyes, his breathing uneven. His ribs faintly throbbed. He stood there for awhile composing himself before taking a step forward…only to stumble back as he ran into someone.

He winced as he fell to the ground and then looked up at the person he crashed into. Two boys stood before him. The one he assumed he had hit was tall at least six feet with chin length Brown hair that was combed back and sharp brown eyes. He was broad like a football player. The other was shorter closer to Kurt's height with bright copper hair and pale green eyes.

"Sorry." Kurt breathed out; his body protested all over as he tried to stand back up.

"As you should be," The red head stated, looking at Kurt with disdain, "Watch where you're going."

He blinked shocked by the rude behavior of the boys before him. The Brunette held a superior look on his face.

"I said I was sorry."

The Brunette smirked, "Well since I'm feeling generous I'll forgive you this time. If it happens again, we'll have a problem." He took a step back and looked at Kurt, "You must be the new kid everybody's talking about."

"He doesn't look like much." The red head sniffed, "I expected more with the way Nicholas went about him. According to Brenden he needed scholarship help to even come here."

The Brunette actually sneered at that statement, "Just what we need in this school, more poor people. So much for a high class school. Just stay out of my way, Plebeian."

Kurt couldn't even talk, conjure up a sassy comment back to the stuck up boy before him. He just stared as they moved past him as if he was nothing and **he couldn't say anything. **Actually this is what he expected from the people around him. This was normal, he could deal with this.

"Hey!" Kurt's head whipped the right to see a very pissed off Nikel heading in his direction. Instinctually he curled into himself, bracing up against the pillar to make himself as small as possible. Nikel stalked past him and to the two boys who turned back around.

"Can I help you?" The Brunette snapped, raising an eyebrow at Nikel.

"Shove it, Gabby." He responded

"It's Gabriel, you uncouth waste of space."

"Now now Gabby you don't want the staff to hear you talk like that, I'm sure Daddy dearest wouldn't be pleased to find his son got expelled from such a prestigious school. Just think of his public image."

"Do you have a point?" The redhead asked, sounding bored.

"Apologized to Kurt for the exceptionally rude way you treated him, both of you."

"I will do no such thing."

"Have I ever told you that you are a brat, Jamie?"

"Frequently, thank you."

With that both boys turned and walked away. Nikel huffed and turned to Kurt, "Sorry, I didn't think I could get them to apologize but something seriously needed to be said. Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Just ignore them. The proper Gabriel Michael Johnston the third is a heinous creature who thinks he owns the world and everybody should bow down before him. The little shit next to him is James Samuel Kattalakis, a personal thorn in my side for years. Thankfully they both room in Maxstoke Dorms."

"Kattalakis?"

"Yeah, he's my cousin as much as I hate to admit it." He frowned.

"Nikel's frowning, that's worrisome." Both boys looked towards the steps to see Blaine walking down them.

"Oh shut up. Kurt just had his first encounter with the ass twins."

"You and Zach really need to come up with a better name for them."

Nikel stuck out his tongue, "Whatever, now if you don't mind I have a meeting with the Dean and Damien." He pulled a face, "Just kill me now. Bye Kurt, don't tell the two idiots get to you."

Blaine and Kurt watched their RA walk away before Blaine looked at Kurt with a smile, "Come on, I'll walk with you back to the dorms."

Nodding a thanks he fell in step with him. As they weaved through the halls of Dalton Academy Blaine looked at his companion.

"You know we've missed you this past week." Blaine wouldn't meet Kurt's eye when he said this. He's only spoken to the new kid a few times but he couldn't help but feel a connection even if he wasn't exactly sure why. Plus he was pretty cute.

Kurt raised an eyebrow, "I highly doubt that, you barely know me."

"So? We want to get to know you and it's hard when you're running from us." More like I want to get to know you Blaine thought withholding a sigh.

"Maybe you should take that as a warning."

"I've never been good at heeding warnings."

Kurt side glanced the attractive boy next to him and tried to squish down the feeling to blush. This was ridiculous. He so didn't need to start crushing on this boy. He was trying to be nice and didn't need the weird gay kid panting after him.

"_We don't need to worry about you trying to cop a peek at our junk in the shower. Trying to turn all us normal boys into fags like you. Now we'll make sure of it."_

He shuddered at the memory.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." They were almost to the dorms, "I just had a strange thought."

"You know I think this is the longest conversation I've ever had with you."

He opened the door to their dorm building and let Kurt walk through first. Together they headed upstairs towards Kurt's room. Kurt didn't know what to say to Blaine's comment. 'That's nice but it's not going to continue' just sounded too mean, so he stayed silent.

They heard music as they closed in on the room. Kurt hesitated at the door before carefully opening it. He quickly covered his eyes with his hands while Blaine just laughed.

Zach was jumping around on his bed with his hair all over the place like he just woke up. That wasn't the bad part; the problem was he was only in a pair of plaid boxers and white socks with sunglasses on. He was strumming a guitar while singing.

"No, I ain't gonna comb my hair  
>'Cause I ain't going anywhere<br>No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, oh

I'll just strut in my birthday suit  
>And let everything hang loose<br>Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-eah

Oh  
>Today I don't feel like doing anything<br>I just wanna lay in my bed  
>Don't feel like picking up my phone<br>So leave a message at the tone  
>'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything"<p>

"Ahem!" Kurt coughed, causing Zach to stop. They stared at each other, Kurt beet red while Zach looked completely unfazed at being caught in his underwear.

"So…you want to join?" Zach finally asked, starting to look uncomfortable at the silence.

"No." Kurt stuttered out before running to their attached bathroom and slamming the door.

Zach looked at Blaine frowning, "What did I do?"

Blaine just shrugged. He was used to Zach's odd antics. After all it was just last year when he was new that he was honored enough to witness Zach singing 'I'm too sexy' while doing a very interesting strip tease in the middle of the dorms common room. Nothing surprised him anymore.

"I'll go talk to him, just…put some clothes on."

"But it's my room too!"

"Zach."

"Fine." He grumbled half heartedly, going to his dress. With that done, Blaine went to the bathroom door and knocked quietly.

"Kurt, its Blaine. Can I come in?"

"No. I'm fine."

"You just bolted into the bathroom and locked yourself in."

"…I really had to go?"

Zach broke out laughing, coming up behind Blaine.

"I'm dressed if you want to come out now. I promise. I'm going to guess you have no brothers. I'm have three so seeing guys in their boxers is pretty normal to me."

Kurt slide down to sit on the floor against the door. His face was still beet red, "I have a step brother but I only shared a house with him for a month." The rest of the time I was in the hospital he thought sullenly.

Zach –though Kurt couldn't see him- put his hand over his heart and gasped, "Did he just give us some information about himself? My heart just stopped."

Kurt stood up and opened the door with an eyebrow raised. Zach stood there with a huge grin on his face and Blaine just looked concerned.

"Hey!" Zach said defensively, "Don't give me that look, roomie. The only thing I know about you is that you don't own a DS and now that you have a step brother. I call that progress."

Progress. Kurt frowned at the word. He didn't want to make progress.

The concerned look didn't leave Blaine's face as Kurt moved past them to go collapse on his bed. It was only about six in the evening, but after school and his therapy session all Kurt wanted to do was sleep. He had to figure out a way to make them leave. It was almost time for his pills.

"Fine then, don't answer." Zach stuck his tongue out in Kurt's direction, "If you'll gents excuse me I'll be in the common area playing the most epic game of Mario Party you've ever witnessed."

With that he headed out the door. After a moment's hesitation, Blaine went and sat on the edge of Kurt's bed by his head. He looked at the pictures that were on Kurt's nightstand.

"Who's in these pictures?"

Kurt looked up from his pillow to see what Blaine was looking at, "Uh the first one is a picture of my best friend Mercedes and me. The second one is a group of my friends from my old school. The third is my dad, step mom, step brother and me. The forth is my dad, mom and me when I was five. The last is Brittany and me." He shrugged.

"Is she your girlfriend?"

Kurt bit his lip unsure how to answer for a second before going with the truth…well what was mostly true.

"Ex-girlfriend but we're really close."

Before Blaine could say anything, Kurt's phone went off. He stood up as Kurt reached to grab it.

"I guess I'll head out. See you later, Kurt."

Kurt nodded, putting the phone to his ear to answer.

Just as Blaine started to shut the door he heard Kurt answer, sounding just a little happier than he has since Blaine's known him, "Brittany? What's wrong, Boo?"

Blaine sighed, heading down the hallway.

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><p>Poor Blaine. Well drop a review and tell me what you think.<p> 


	5. You're gay?

So sorry about the long wait, I started a new college semester and I am getting my ass kicked by it. I'm not going to ramble on let's just get onto the story. I hope you enjoy it. Plus I just went to my cousin's wedding, he just married his boyfriend. It was so much fun and suddenly I had some inspiration for this story! Also helps my cousin is a huge glee fan.

Sept 23rd: I got a tumblr account tonight so don't expect much but its http:/ no1schizo. tumblr. com/ please remove spaces

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, just the OC's.

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><p>Kurt woke up it was still dark out but way later than he normally woke up. Ever since Brittany called three days ago he has been sleeping through the night nightmare free. He sighed, one more day after today before he was home for the weekend.<p>

**-Flashback-**

"Brittany? What's wrong, Boo?" He could hear Brittany sniffling on the other line.

"Dolphin? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Boo. What's wrong?"

"I was so scared. Santana said you were alright but I wanted to make sure. The mean boys at school were talking about you being gone and how you should be dead. You're not dead right? You're at camp and I can't save you," He could hear her starting to cry, "And I want to pet your baby soft hands."

"No honey I'm not dead. I'm at different school, remember?"

"Oh. Can I come visit you?"

"Err…sure, Brit." He knew she'd forget.

"Good. Kurt, you'll call me right? If you need help?" He was surprised by the rare appearance of somber Brittany.

"Oh Boo. I'm fine." He knew he had to change the topics before Brittany became upset again. "How's Satan?"

"Who?"

"Santana."

"But you said-"

Zach bursted back into the room at that moment, eyes wide, "Kurt, dude, come play with us! We're short a person."

"I'm on the phone." He replied at the same time he could hear Brittany.

"I thought you said you weren't at camp."

"Brittany, I'm not." He said into the phone before looking at Zach, "Zach, I can't."

Zach let out a long sufferable sigh, "Fine. If you change your mind, come to the commons room. Now off to Blaine's!" With that he shut the door.

"You should've gone."

"Brittany…I'm just tired."

"Okay. Want me to sing you to sleep?"

He shrugged, getting comfortable in his bed, "Sure." Not believing he'd actually go to sleep.

"I heard this on Arties IPod."

**"When I hear your voice**  
><strong>It's drowning in the whispers<strong>  
><strong>You're just skin and bones<strong>  
><strong>There's nothing left to take<strong>  
><strong>And no matter what I do<strong>  
><strong>I can't make you feel better<strong>  
><strong>If only I could find the answer<strong>  
><strong>To help me understand<strong>

**"Sometimes I wish I could save you**  
><strong>And there's so many things<strong>  
><strong>That I want you to know<strong>  
><strong>I won't give up till it's over<strong>  
><strong>If it takes you forever<strong>  
><strong>I want you to know that<strong>

**"If you fall, stumble down**  
><strong>I'll pick you up off the ground<strong>  
><strong>If you lose faith in you<strong>  
><strong>I'll give you strength to pull through<strong>  
><strong>Tell me you won't give up<strong>  
><strong>'Cause I'll be waiting if you fall<strong>  
><strong>You know I'll be there for you<strong>

**"If only I could find the answer**  
><strong>To take it all away<strong>

**"Sometimes I wish I could save you**  
><strong>And there's so many things<strong>  
><strong>That I want you to know<strong>  
><strong>I won't give up till it's over<strong>  
><strong>If it takes you forever<strong>  
><strong>I want you to know"<strong>

Somewhere in the middle of the song, Kurt had fallen asleep.

"Good night Kurt." She whispered, hanging up.

**-End Flashback-**

He glanced at the other side of the room to see Zach still sleeping. Looking at the clock next he noted it was a little after 5 and got up to shower. Before walking to the bathroom he reached under his bed to take out the box with his pills. Grabbing one of each he went to get ready for the day.

An hour later, Kurt was lying on his bed just as Zach got out of the bathroom. Instead of a weird tie today Zach went with rainbow socks.

"How do I look?" He asked, doing a spin.

Kurt raised an eyebrow, shaking his head. He didn't even grace that with an answer. He stood up and headed towards the door. He opened it just in time to see Blaine poised to knock.

"Wow I almost hit you there." Blaine laughed. The raised fist made Kurt flinch. His medicine hasn't kicked in yet.

"_What is your problem!" He finally snapped, attempting to stand. _

_His harasser raised his fist and punched him in the side of the head, making him fall back down, "You; fag." He hissed, "You walk around so high and mighty. Like you're better than us, but you're not. You're a mistake, a taint against nature. A dirty fucking mistake."_

He took a step back, his breathing picking up. His head started to hurt from a phantom pain; he grabbed it crouching down by his bed.

"Kurt? Are you okay?" Blaine asked, approaching him.

"Please." Kurt whispered, tears streaming down his face, "I'm sorry. Don't hurt me; I'm sorry, so sorry."

"Kurt, nobody's going to hurt you." Blaine tried to calm the boy down, stopping his movements.

"What do we do?" Zach asked.

"Get Nikel."

Zach ran out of the room grateful for something to do. What the hell was wrong with Kurt?

"Kurt." Blaine said cautiously, slowly making his way towards the crying boy. He knelt down next to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"_If you tell anyone, I will kill you." He increased the pressure on his shoulder._

He fell back as Kurt struck out screaming. Kurt scrambled back a few inches, hyperventilating.

He gasped out so quietly that Blaine wasn't sure he heard right. "I won't tell. Don't kill me."

With that Kurt fainted. Blaine sat there frozen before he heard a noise at the door. He looked up as Zach and Nikel made their way into the door. Strangely enough, Sammy was behind them looking concerned.

"What in the hell happened?" Nikel asked, striding across the room and picking Kurt up to lie in his bed.

"I don't know. He opened the door and the next thing I know he's on the floor crying apologizing and-"He stopped unsure if he should tell them about the last comment he made.

"Should we call the nurse?" Zach asked, biting his lip, "This is the second time he's fainted on me like that."

"Second?" Blaine asked but was ignored.

"No." They all turned to look at Sammy, "From the sounds of it he had a panic attack. I use to get them after…just as long as he wakes up calm, no need to get the nurse involved. They can be embarrassing."

"I'll stay with Kurt. You guys go to breakfast. Sammy, will you tell Mr. Oliphant I won't be in class today. Zach, do you know Kurt's first class?"

"Uh…French with Madame Bauer."

"Tell her Kurt isn't feeling well."

"Sure. Shoot me a text when he wakes up, okay?" Zach stood there for a moment longer before the three started heading out, "I have a bunch of movies in the closet. Feel free to rummage through them and use the TV."

He nodded his thanks and watched as the boys left. He looked back at the pale boy lying in the bed. He was quite beautiful, almost like an angel. He shook his head, the boy fainted and he's staring at him like a pervert. He wasn't even gay, which sucked for Blaine.

He moved towards Zach closet and began to dig for a movie. He had no idea how long Kurt would be out. Finally he grabbed one and put it in. He cringed he really didn't want to sit on Zach's bed. He had no idea what that kid did to it. Instead he made his way over to Kurt's side and gingerly sat down next to the unconscious teen. He flipped on Fast and Furious hoping to get lost in cars and hot guys.

Kurt slowly came to a few hours later. He didn't open his eyes instead he tried to figure out what was going on first. He was on something soft so he assumed his bed but why was -was that Beauty and the Beast- playing in the background.

Completely confused, he opened his eyes to see Blaine next to him, asleep. He glanced towards the TV in time to see the beast turning back into a prince. He wanted to wake Blaine up to ask what in the world was going on but he looked so peaceful. He was quite handsome especially since his hair was slowly coming out of its gelled state. He really wanted to run his hands through it. No, bad Kurt.

To resist the urge he slowly got up from the bed, careful not to wake his bed mate. His head was pounding. He stumbled his way to the bathroom. Once inside he stared at himself in the mirror. How long he could keep this up? He was so tired. He looked at the thin clothe cast he got on his arm last week replacing the bulky one and thought of all the wounds under his clothes. When would he stop running?

"Kurt?" A groggy voice called from the other room.

Not today. He turned and walked back to see Blaine awake and texting someone.

"Hey you're up. You scared the living daylights out of me. What happened?"

Kurt bit his lip. He knew he couldn't ignore it this time. Pretend it didn't happen, because it did. And Blaine saw.

"I had a panic attack, obviously."

"You started crying and begging someone to 'stop' that's not just a panic attack." He didn't want to mention the idea of a death threat. What if Kurt was abused? Did his parents hurt him?

Kurt's eyes narrowed, "It's really none of your business, Blaine. My life just hasn't been the easiest."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. I'm sorry for what you saw today and heard. It's not your problem."

"I want to help you, Kurt."

"You can't. If its fine with you I'm going to sleep away this headache."

Blaine looked at him for a moment before sighing dejected the boy obviously wasn't going to talk, "Fine. I suppose I should go to Warbler practice anyways." He started to head out before stopping, "I promise I won't bring it up again but Kurt. Don't let what happened today keep you from talking to us. We just started talking again."

And with that he left.

Kurt fell backwards on his bed, wincing as it aggravated his ribs. He really fucked up this one. He wasn't sure how long he laid there, but according to his growling stomach, it was long enough. Groaning he got up and headed towards cafeteria. Warbler practice would be over by now meaning he had to see his roommate as well as Blaine again. Could this day get any worse?

"Move out of the way, Plebeian." He turned slightly to see Gabriel and Jamie moving past him. Oh yes, yes it can. He opened his mouth to make a comeback but once again nothing came out. Once again he let them get away from it. When did he get so weak?

"Hey Kurt!" Zach materialized next to him with Blaine, Nikel following at more a sedate pace. Next to him was a beautiful girl about their age with straight platinum blonde hair and the palest blue eyes Kurt had ever seen. She was tall and thin and walked like a runway model. He just stared at her as her sharp eyes caught his.

Blaine smiled, "I see you spotted Loretta. Stunning right? Don't be put off by her personality, she can be sweet. When, I'm not really sure, but disregard any comments out her mouth. She's what some may call.."

"A bitch. She's Nikel's whore and goes to Crawford Day." Zach finished with a nod. Apparently they were going to ignore his not so little freak out this morning. Boys and their short attention spans. Maybe Blaine already told them he wasn't going to talk about it.

"Zach, who said you could talk." Loretta asked with fake sweetness as the two finally reached them.

"Why would I need permission?"

The sickly sweet smile left her lips as she rolled her eyes, "Because everybody around you gets dumber every time you open your mouth."

"Why are you here again?"

"Nikel is taking me out; I had to rip him from your possessive insane grip before we could have our date."

Zach stuck out his tongue, "You're just bitter that Nikel loves me more."

"I always use to wonder why people bang their heads against walls…then I met you."

"Hey Loretta, a blonde, brunette, and a redhead…"

"Finish that joke and you won't be breathing."

"What did you have for breakfast? Bitch flakes?"

"You're just mad your tampon is in too far."

"I fart to make you smell better!"

Kurt, still staring at the two who were standing toe to toe, whispered to Blaine, "Are they seriously trading insults back and forth?"

"Yeah, we learned long ago to just let them finish."

"You're the cum your mother should've swallowed."

Zach gasped at her before glaring, "You should do some soul searching maybe you'll find one."

"Anyone who told you to be yourself couldn't have given you worse advice." Both turned to look at Kurt whose eyes were wide, "I said that out loud, didn't I?"

Loretta approached him looking him up and down, "And who are you?"

Nikel step forward and took his girlfriend's hand, "Loretta meet Kurt he just started a few weeks ago, he's Zach's new roommate. Kurt this is my girlfriend, Loretta."

"Zach's roommate, huh? I am so sorry." She took a step back and smiled at Nikel, "I like him, feisty."

"You got the Alpha Females approval, you should be honored."

"Zach, shut it. Nikel, we really should head out."

"Yeah, before this turns into a war. See you later guys. Try not to burn the dorm down while I'm out."

"No promises." Zach replied, before walking into the cafeteria.

"Have fun." Blaine said before the two took their leave. As soon as they were gone Blaine and Kurt made their way into the lunch room. Kurt bit his lip as he was led towards the table where Wes, David, Zach, Thad and Christof already sat. He's managed to avoid Thad and Christof since meeting them the last time. This was going to be awkward.

"Blaine, tell David that 'Hey, Soul Sister' is a way better song for Sectionals than 'Bills, bills, bills." Thad announced, glaring at David.

"David 'Hey, Soul Sister' is a way better song for Sectionals than 'Bills, bills, bills." Blaine repeated sitting down, Kurt carefully sitting next to him, "Plus Sectionals are this Saturday we're not changing our setlist."

"Whatever it was just a suggestion."

"As long as we don't do 'Teenage Dream' I'm good." Wes added rolling his eyes.

"I take offense to that. I think we did it justice."

"An all-boys choir sang Teenage Dream, by Katy Perry?" Kurt couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, Blaine just had to sing it." Zach pretended to gush, laughing.

Blaine pouted, "It was a good song and gave us something new to consider. Plus Katy Perry is a great artist."

"Blaine, if you weren't gay I'd think you were in love with Katy Perry."

Blaine stuck out his tongue, "I can admire her without being attracted to her."

Kurt just sat there wide eyed. Blaine was gay? And nobody was making fun of him, harassing him or calling him names. He seemed to be friends with everyone and they all knew. What was this place?

"Kurt, are you okay?" Blaine asked, looking at him concerned.

"You're gay?" They didn't care Blaine was gay, he realized. He didn't have to speak in a lower register, he didn't have to hide himself. And yet he would.

"Is there a problem with that?" Thad asked, glaring at him.

"_Next thing you know you'll be wearing tight pants, listening to musicals, and singing about your feelings in a girlie voice."_

"_All fags deserve to die."_

"_People like you aren't meant to be happy. Its people like us who make sure natural order remains and little fags like you stay in the closet."_

Kurt closed his eyes to quiet the voices, but they weren't going away, "I have to go."

He got up and quickly left the room. He didn't even get a chance to eat. How was someone so popular gay? It doesn't work that way. Not in the real world, not at McKinley. He was worthless, a taint, a mistake, he was gay. Blaine was smart, popular, kind, he was also gay. He grabbed his head in frustration. It made no sense.

"_What's wrong, Fancy? The pretty bird can't speak? What's this can't sing either?"_

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><p>I hope you like the chapter. This story is going somewhere I promise. Next chapter is a revelation on Blaine's part on Kurt and maybe sectionals. We will be seeing more of Gabriel, Jamie, Sammy and Loretta.<p> 


	6. Playing 5 questions

Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews for last chapter. They really make my day. I'm sorry about the delay with chapter six, but finally here it is. I hope everybody enjoys it.

Just so people know I did have a tumblr account but I found out I suck at it so it's gone. I do have a freewebs account that has a blog and a character profile for all my OCs on Broken Bird sing. FYI: there will be chapter previews and some spoilers on there so read if you want and at your own risk. The site is: http:/ no1schizofanfiction. Webs. com / just remove the spaces.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the song 'Why' by Rascal Flatts. I do own OCs.

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><p>Blaine moved to get up and follow Kurt, but Thad stopped him.<p>

"Sit down, Blaine. Apparently Kurt's a little homophobic."

Blaine bit his lip, but didn't say anything. Kurt was so quiet and seemed like he was in pain. He couldn't believe he'd have a problem with him being gay. Then again Blaine had a hard time seeing the bad in people as Wes and David were always telling him. It hurt that Kurt was really beautiful but could his hopefully new friend really not like him because of something he couldn't control?

"Why would he bother coming to this school if he was homophobic, Thad?" We asked, raising an eyebrow, "Everybody knows we have a zero tolerance bullying policy."

"Maybe Mommy and Daddy sent him here to get a better education." Christof said this time, "I think he's a stuck up little bitch."

"Christof! Have you even talked to him before outside of the one lunchroom incident?"

"Don't need to, I know one when I see one. He's a homophobe, whatever."

Zach pushed away from the table and stalked out of the lunchroom.

"What's wrong with him?" David wondered, as the other shrugged.

Kurt wandered through Dalton heading towards the outside, mentally kicking himself. Why did he run away? They probably thought he was a real freak now. It's okay, he told himself, now they would leave him alone. That's what he wanted right?..right? What did it matter anyways? They were going to judge him no matter what.

Not paying attention he ran head long into Gabriel once again. Well shit.

"Look Plebeian you really need to watch where you're going before I have to take some drastic measures to make sure you stay away. I can practically smell the poor coming off you."

"Excuse me, Mr. I have a gold bar shoved up my ass but if you're as rich as you say you are get a haircut. Your hair's so shaggy you're the one that looks poor. I don't have time your stupidity right now."

With that he proceeded out of the school. That felt great but soon Kurt found himself shaking. He was sure he made an enemy for life. He needed to get out of here.

He headed towards this little garden that was far in the back of the school. He had stumbled upon it when he was trying to avoid the boys the first couple of weeks of class. He spent a ton of time out there, it was calming. It would do his chaotic thoughts some good. As he thought of his garden another thought struck him. A more terrifying thought he really couldn't control.

He could end it all now and nobody would find him for a while. Nobody else ever went into the garden as far as he knew. He couldn't think that way, they told him he couldn't think that way. His meds were supposed to help, why wouldn't they help? He let out a frustrated groan. He just needed to reach his destination; it would calm him. It always calmed him.

As he approached the garden he was surprised to hear the soft sounds of a guitar and a sad voice accompanying it.

"**You must have been in a  
>Place so dark<br>You couldn't feel the light  
>Reachin' for you through<br>That stormy cloud  
>Now here we are<br>Gathered in our little hometown  
>This can't be the way<br>You meant to draw a crowd**

**"Oh why, that's what I keep asking**  
><strong>Was there anything I could've<strong>  
><strong>Said or done<strong>  
><strong>Oh, I had no clue you were<strong>  
><strong>Masking<strong>  
><strong>A troubled soul, God only knows<strong>  
><strong>What went wrong and why<strong>  
><strong>You would leave the stage<strong>  
><strong>In the middle of a song"<strong>

Kurt stopped right outside the garden and looked carefully in to see Sammy standing in the middle, facing away from him with a guitar in his hands.

**"Now in my mind I'll keep you frozen  
>As a seventeen-year-old<br>Rounding third to score the  
>Winning run<br>You always played with passion  
>No matter what the game<br>When you took the stage  
>You'd shine just like the sun<strong>

**"Oh why, that's what I keep asking**  
><strong>Was there anything I could've<strong>  
><strong>Said or done<strong>  
><strong>Oh, I had no clue you were<strong>  
><strong>Masking<strong>  
><strong>A troubled soul, God only knows<strong>  
><strong>What went wrong and why<strong>  
><strong>You would leave the stage<strong>  
><strong>In the middle of a song"<strong>

Kurt stared as he listened to the raw pain in Sammy's voice. The song itself was heart-wrenching.

**"Now the oak trees are swaying  
>In the early autumn breeze<br>A golden sun is shining on my face  
>Through tangled thoughts<br>I hear a mockingbird sing  
>This old world really ain't that<br>Bad of a place**

**Oh why, there's no comprehending**  
><strong>And who am I to try to<strong>  
><strong>Judge or explain<strong>  
><strong>Oh, but I do have one<strong>  
><strong>Burning question<strong>  
><strong>Who told you life wasn't<strong>  
><strong>Worth the fight<strong>  
><strong>They were wrong, they lied<strong>  
><strong>Now you're gone and we cry<strong>  
><strong>'Cause it's not like you to<strong>  
><strong>Walk away<strong>  
><strong>In the middle of a song<strong>

**Your beautiful song**  
><strong>Your absolutely beautiful song"<strong>

Kurt couldn't help, but clap as the song came to a close. Sammy spun around, tears running down his face, and looked at Kurt.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" He reached down towards a bottle at his feet and took a swig. Kurt was surprised to find it was a beer.

Kurt shrugged, "I wanted to get away for a while and this place is usually deserted. That was a beautiful song, by the way. You should sing with the Warblers."

He sighed, "Thanks. My brother died two years ago, the song was for him. I just miss him sometimes. I use to come out here and just think."

"How- nevermind it's none of my business. I'll just go. It's getting late anyways."

Kurt turned to leave.

"He hung himself."

He stopped, "He-"

"Committed suicide." Sammy picked up his bottle and approached where Kurt stood. He moved passed him continuing out of the garden, "I don't know your situation Kurt, but I know you're suffering. If you can't help yourself how do you expect others to help you."

With that Sammy disappeared back towards the school. Kurt stared after him for a moment, "I don't want their help. I don't want their help." He ran his hands over his face, before throwing them down by his sides, "I don't want their help! I don't, I don't, I don't want their HELP!" He kicked the nearby flowers uprooting some of them. His chest heaved with deep breaths of air while he looked at the flowers lying in his path.

"_Kurt? Kurt! Hey, please calm down. Don't make the doctors come in to put you out again."_

He fell to his knees in the middle of the path not caring if his pants got dirty. He reached out and grabbed one of the roses before him not caring of the thorn biting into his skin. It was October but the flowers were still bloomed, almost ready to wither and die. He spun the rose a bit in his hand before looking at the Bellflowers also there. As he looked at the dying flowers he remembered the deflated look on Blaine's face when he ran away.

"Damn it." He groaned, grabbing some of the flowers he had kicked out of the ground and cleaned them up. He rearranged them in his hand and almost smiled, they didn't look half bad. How pathetic was he? He turned back towards the school before he could change his mind. So much for the garden calming him down, if anything it just made it worse.

He ignored everyone once inside the school, the stupid flowers still clutched to his side. He made it to the Warwick Dorms and knocked softly on Blaine's dorm room. He sighed when he received no answer. Great he thought heading towards his own room. He opened the door and threw the flowers on the bed before realizing Zach was there.

He was sitting on his own bed, writing furiously into a sketchbook. Kurt stared at him for a minute uncertain. He never actually witnessed a time when Zach was not talking. It was surprisingly unnerving.

"Zach…are you okay?"

He didn't even look up at Kurt, just dug his pen deeper into the paper.

"Zach?" he tried again taking a step towards him.

"Don't come any closer, Kurt, wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable." Zach snapped finally looking at him.

"What are you talking about?"

Zach stood up shockingly quick and was soon in Kurt's face, "Shit gets hard for you and you run away. Blaine thinks he did something wrong _again_ when you ran off and all that happened was you found out he was gay. So tell me Kurt did he do something wrong? Is something wrong with being gay?"

"I-I didn't say that." He felt his voice raise an octave. It was closer to his natural key, but still much lower.

"You didn't have to. Actions speak louder than words, Kurt. I don't want to be around a homophobe. And neither does Blaine. Do you think you're better than us? Huh, Kurt?" He was right in front of him now. Kurt stumbled back, the back of his knees hitting his bed.

"_You walk around so high and mighty. Like you're better than us but you're not. You're a mistake, a taint against nature."_

"Please, stop."

"Don't like the truth?" Zach spat, "What? Don't have anything to say? You don't belong in this school, we don't need homophobes here."

"_You deserve this and more. You should've left school, you freak."_

"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!" Kurt yelled his voice high and at his normal tone. He reached his hands up to cover his ears. Zach's eyes widened as Kurt curled himself into a fetal position much like earlier that morning.

Kurt started to cry, "Please don't hurt me, I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me."

"Kurt…I'm not going to hurt you. Come on now." Biting his lip he sank down onto the floor next to the boy. Very carefully he wrapped his arms around the smaller boy relieved he didn't pull away, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was just frustrated and Loretta pissed me off so I took it out on you. Okay, um, what can I do?"

Kurt was shaking, gasping for breath making him feel extremely dizzy, "Pills…under bed…Ser-" Zach let go of Kurt and dove under the bed and grabbed the first bag he felt and opened it. His eyes widened as he began to filter through the different pill bottles.

"Seroquel?"

He looked at Kurt who shook his head.

"Seredyn?"

Kurt attempted to nod and Zach quickly opened the bottle and took out a pill. Handing it over to Kurt, he quickly took it.

Zach watched as slowly the shaking stopped and Kurt's breathing returned to normal. It wasn't a quick process by any means but it was done in silence.

"What in the hell was that?"

Kurt looked down at the floor, "A panic attack."

"And these?" He picked up some of the bottles, "Sarafem, Seroquel, Prazosin, Seredyn, what are all these?"

"Medication obviously," Zach continued to stare at him, "I don't know what you want me to say, Zach."

"You're voice…it's really high. Is that a side effect?"

Kurt deflated against the side of his bed, finally looking up to meet Zach's eyes, "No, it's my natural tone. If I'm not paying attention…I can't help it."

"I don't understand."

He couldn't get out of this this time. There had to be a while to get the minimum of information across. Then he had an idea. "I'll answer 5 of your questions if you answer 5 of mine. None of it leaves this room, no matter what and we answer honestly. Deal?"

Zach looked at him for moment before shrugging, "Sure, deal. I'm thinking this is the most information I'll be getting out of you ever. Back and forth or one at a time?" He moved to sit next to Kurt on the floor instead of in front of him.

"Back and forth I suppose. You can start."

"What are the meds for?"

"Some are for depression, others for symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress and PTSD delusions; others are for panic attacks, most also help me sleep. Zach, are you gay?"

He laughed lightly, "You caught that, huh? I don't really know. There's only one person I've ever thought about myself with, that I love and it's a guy so I guess. How long have you been on this medication?"

"Over two months now, I suppose." He bit his lip, "Does this guy know you're, well, maybe gay?"

"No and he never will. Is the reason you take all this medication the same reason you came here will a cast on your arm?"

Kurt looked at the cloth cast that he would be getting off on Monday. "Yes it is. Why doesn't he know?"

"Because it wouldn't matter if he did. He doesn't want me in any sort of romantic fashion. So obviously you didn't fall down the stairs. Were you attacked?"

Kurt closed his eyes, fighting back the memories and the voices, "Yes. How do you know he wouldn't consider it if he doesn't even know you're an option?"

"Because he has a girlfriend that he's completely in love with. Why were you attacked?"

Kurt's eyes widened at Zach's hostile tone, "At my old school there were some…people who took offense that I was gay. I was different and they didn't like it. So they felt it was their job to remind me of my place in life. If I don't act gay, then others don't have to assume I am."

"Oh god and I called you a homophobe. I'm so sorry. I-I'm a total ass."

"Are you in love with Nikel?"

There was an awkward silence after that came blurting out of his mouth.

"Yeah," a small smile played onto Zach's lips, "He's perfect, nice, funny, and totally gets me. I've loved him since we were freshmen and were rooming together."

"You should tell him."

"He has Loretta. He loves Loretta, he loves a girl, he's straight. I'm the best friend and I won't ruin that. I won't make this weird for him. As long as I stay by him I'll be happy. Loretta knows though. She approached me on it once and I couldn't deny it. She doesn't like me around Nikel but who would like their boyfriend around someone who's in love with them. That's why we fight so much."

"That's" He paused, "really depressing."

"It's not so bad. It's not any worse than you hiding the fact you're gay."

"Don't tell anyone."

"You don't have to worry here. Nobody will make fun of you."

"Old habits die hard and every time I think about it I hear _them._"

"So you're going to let them win. What happened anyways."

"I don't want to talk about it," His tone was sharp. Kurt stood up and grabbed the flowers that were still on his bed, "As for the rest, I'm working on it."

He started for the door, "Where are you going?"

"I owe Blaine an apology." With that he left their room and approached Blaine's. He knocked and hoped Blaine would answer this time.

When he received no answer he slump his shoulders. He was just about to leave when the door opened and there stood Blaine with wet hair and just a plain t-shirt and pajama pants.

They stood there staring at each other before Blaine shifted uncomfortable, "Hey Kurt."

"Uh hey. I just wanted to say uh sorry. Here." He pulled the flowers out from behind his back and thrust them into Blaine's arms, "I didn't mean to run off. I was just shocked and I don't handle shock well."

Blushing bright red Kurt turned and started back for his room not waiting for Blaine to answer.

"Kurt?" Blaine called out. He glanced back to see Blaine holding the flowers to his chest a small smile on his face, "Sit with me at breakfast tomorrow?"

"Sure. Good night Blaine."

"Night Kurt. And thanks."

Blaine shut his door and Kurt walked back to his room. He was just about to enter when Nikel came walking down the hallway apparently back from his date.

"Hey Kurt, is Zach still awake?"

"Uh yeah."

"Cool," He followed Kurt into the dorm room.

"Hey, Z," Nikel greeted jumping onto the bed besides Zach who was lying down playing his DS, "Do you live on that thing?"

"Hey, Nike. And no, I live on the Xbox sometimes too, oh and Warbler practice has been taking over my life."

He laughed, "Which reminds me Loretta wants to come to Sectionals with me, so we'll both be cheering you guys on and maybe after we can all catch a bite. That cool?"

"Oh yeah, awesome."

Kurt frowned, now that he knew what to look for it was almost obvious that Zach liked Nikel. Poor Zach.

"Hey Kurt, are you coming too?" Zach looked at him hopefully.

"Oh I have to go home this weekend but I'll probably be there." Zach raised an eyebrow at his lower tone of voice again but didn't comment on it.

"Now get out of my room Nikel, I'm trying to beat this level and you're distracting me."

"I know I'm just so hot." He laughed getting up.

Zach rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue, "You were just with your girlfriend for the last how many odd hours hasn't your ego been stroked enough."

"Not just my ego."

"That's a pleasant image I figured Loretta was too frigid of a bitch to do that."

"Will you both stop?" Kurt groaned. He didn't want to hear this and despite how Zach was acting he was sure he didn't either.

"Fine, fine. See you tomorrow guys." He left without further ado.

Kurt looked over at Zach.

"Not a word Kurt."

"Make up your mind. First you guys wanted me to talk to you, now you want me to shut up."

"Funny. Sarcastic little bitch aren't you?"

"Good night, Zach."

"Good night, Kurt. Thanks for trusting me."

Kurt sighed. He just hoped he wouldn't regret it.

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><p>Well that chapter went in a completely different direction…oh well. I hope you liked it. In case you're wondering how realistic Zach and Kurts conversation playing 5 questions each was how I found out my friend was gay...so it does happen. Just to put it up again heres the website for my site: http: no1schizofanfiction. Webs. com / just remove the spaces. I'll have some previews for chapter 7 up by the end of tonight.


	7. Will I wake tomorrow from this nightmare

Well here's chapter 7. I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed to this story so far. Seriously it's amazing and it really keeps me writing. This chapter went in a completely different direction than I thought it would but I couldn't stop writing. Its up way soon than I thought it would be as well. Hope you like it.

I don't own Glee or the song Will I? From RENT just to the OC's are mine.

* * *

><p>'<em>Will I lose my dignity<br>Will someone care  
>Will I wake tomorrow<br>from this nightmare'_

It hurt. He curled up into fetal position, holding tightly around his stomach. The pressure was immense. He couldn't breathe. Why couldn't he breathe?

"Kurt."

He whimpered, curling into himself further.

"Shh…you're okay. You're okay, Kurt." He felt a presence next to him before a hand was on his shoulder shaking him.

"Stop." He cried, "Please stop."

"Kurt, wake up!" The voice yelled.

"STOP!" Kurt screamed, shooting up in bed. He looked around; the first light of the sun was creeping into the room. Zach was sitting next to him, his eyes wide.

"You were crying in your sleep and yelling. I thought I was the only one who talked in my sleep."

Kurt couldn't help it, he laughed. It was true; Zach said the weirdest things in his sleep.

"There we go there's a laugh." He looked hesitant, "This happen often?"

"Not usually loud enough to wake anyone up. Sorry."

"It's cool. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Well okay then. So since I'm awake and you're awake and it's really freakin' early, wanna play cards?"

Kurt blinked at him, "I'm going to get ready for class."

Zach pouted, "You're no fun. Fine I'll play solitaire."

Rolling his eyes, Kurt got up and grabbed his pill bag. He headed into the bathroom to get ready.

An hour and a half later, both boys were dressed and ready. A knock came at the door.

"Come in." Zach yelled, staring intently at Kurt, "It's your move, little boy. Choose wisely."

Blaine opened the door and just stared. Both boys were sitting on Kurt's bed, cards in front of them.

"Threes," Kurt decided.

"Go fish bitch."

"What are you two doing?" Blaine asked, looking between the two.

"Playing Go Fish duh. And I'm totally ruling it. I am making this game my bitch." Zach cheered, making an obscene gesture.

Kurt shook his head and looked at Blaine with an expression that screamed 'help me.'

"As wonderful as that is, you'll miss breakfast if you don't end the game. I saw Nikel head down about a minute ago."

Zach's eyes went wide, "He went without me. No! He knows its French Toast day and he's trying to make sure I don't get any. You win, Kurt, I have to run!" He jumped from the bed and ran out of the room in a blur of color.

Kurt blinked before standing up at a more sedate pace. He looked at Blaine before walking past him out the door. He knew he would follow.

"So how are you?" Blaine questioned, moving to walk beside Kurt.

"Fine," He shrugged, "And yourself?"

"Well I received some lovely flowers last night and woke up to their wonderful smell this morning." He smiled brightly, "Thanks again for the flowers. You didn't need to apologize."

"Yes, I did." Kurt insisted.

"Well if you want to make it up to me you should come to cheer us on at Sectionals tomorrow."

"Zach already invited me. I'll think about going."

"Wonderful."

Kurt fought the urge to raise an eyebrow. This boy was so easy to please. There was something so sincere about him it almost made Kurt nervous. What was he doing? Making small talk with these people, telling Zach all that stuff about himself, what was he doing?

He deserved to have some happiness. He tried to tell himself that but his memories said otherwise.

"_People like you aren't meant to be happy."_

"Are you okay?"

"What?"

"You got really quiet." Blaine explained just as they reached the dining room.

"Blaine, when did you start at Dalton?"

"I started here as a sophomore. I was bullied at my old school for being gay. You know name calling all that stupid stuff. After a while I couldn't take it anymore and transferred here. Everyone was so nice. Why?"

"Just curious I guess."

They grabbed some food and sat down at their usual table. Kurt shifted uncomfortably under Thad and Christof's intense stare.

They barely started eating when Christof sighed, "So we're just going to ignore Kurt's blatant homophobia yesterday? Somebody should report it to a teacher." Everyone at the table looked up then, interested.

"It wasn't homophobia." Zach snapped back, "And he apologized."

"Plus you can't be kicked out Dalton for being a homophobe as long as one doesn't attack or verbally assault another student. We respect all beliefs here." Wes quoted as if he memorized from the Dalton handbook.

"That was very unhelpful and inappropriate, thank you Wes." Zach replied.

"Whatever." Christof grumbled a little lower, "He's still a homophobic freak."

"_You deserve this and more. You should've left school, you freak"_

His body screamed at him to run. To get away from the situation. Just as he was about to get up, Blaine lightly put his hand on his arm, ignoring Kurt's cringe and smiled brightly at Christof.

"What was that Christof? You're going to pay for dinner after Sectionals tomorrow? That's so nice of you." Blaine continued to smile that charming smile, "The whole team appreciates it."

Zach, Wes and David all laughed.

"Sweet, one of everything on the menu for me," David teased.

"You all suck."

The tension lightened up from there and Kurt smiled a thanks towards Blaine. He shrugged in return.

Christof continued to glare, obviously not planning on letting it go, "I'll see you guys at practice."

With that Christof stood up and walked away from the table. Others shrugged and went back to eating, but Kurt watched as Christof moved over and sat next to Gabriel and Jamie. As he began gesturing to them, Kurt turned away from the scene and bit his lip. He had a bad feeling.

* * *

><p>The rest of school day was uneventful after that. Kurt really didn't have classes with any of them, but Blaine met up with him after his last class of the day. Together they walked towards the front of the school where students generally get picked up.<p>

"Don't you have Warbler practice?"

"Because of Sectionals tomorrow we're practicing later than we normally do." Blaine responded.

"Which means a round of Call of Duty before practice, boom!" Zach laughed walking up to them with Nikel. David and Wes trailed behind them shaking their heads.

"No Zach, you cry when you lose and we don't need you all mopey for rehearsal." Wes scolded.

"That was one time." We gave him a stern look. Zach sighed, "Yes councilor Wes, of course councilor Wes." Zach saluted him with just his middle finger, "So…do you always have that gavel shoved up your ass or do you remove it on special occasions?"

"I'm not even going to grace that with a response."

"So when are you leaving, Kurt?" Blaine asked, ignoring the insanity around him.

Kurt shrugged, "When my ride gets here. Usually my dad is early though so right away." He shifted his backpack around. On weekends when he went home he kept his pills in his bag along with a few other things so he didn't have to return to the dorms before leaving, but it made his bag uncomfortably heavy.

They all walked outside with Kurt. He frowned when he didn't see his dad's car. He glanced at his phone next to note he had one missed message from his dad and a text from Santana. Still frowning he put his phone to his ear to listen to the voicemail.

"Hey Kurt, your friend Santana called and said Brittany wanted to pick you up. I hope that's okay. I don't know how long it's going to take them to get there since school gets out at the same time for you both. Call me if there are any problems."

Eyebrows furrowed, he checked the text from Santana.

'Porcelain, pickin u up. Left school after 6th per so c u soon…B is freaked out. wont tell me y. wants to talk to u.'

Wonderful. Her texting left much to be desired.

"So are you stuck here for tonight or something?" Nikel asked.

Kurt looked up from his phone to see them all staring at him.

"No just a change of plans."

"Everything okay?" Blaine asked sounding worried.

"I'm not exactly sure."

"Dolphin!" A feminine voice called out.

"Did that blond chick just say dolphin. What the hell?" Zach asked, as they watched a girl run towards the front doors where they were standing. She was wearing what looked to be a cheerleading outfit which didn't help with the stares at all.

Kurt groaned making all the boys look at him, "This is going to be bad." He mumbled just as Brittany was about to reach him.

"Dolphin!" She yelled again, running straight up to Kurt, throwing her arms around him and kissing him on the cheek, "I lost Artie's magic comb. You'll help me find it, won't you?"

He tumbled a step back before regaining his balance with her added weight, "Uh sure, we'll look for it at your house when we get back."

She pulled back a step and smiled brightly, bouncing on the balls of her heel. Kurt smiled back at his friend's childish antics. He was finding it easier and easier to smile, but decided to analyze that later.

"Your voice sounds weird. Are you sick? Did Lord Tubbington steal it? He's been stealing my money. I think he's going to run away to Canada."

"No Brittany, your cat didn't steal my voice and I'll have another talk with him about earning his own money."

Thankfully Santana appeared then to end the awkwardly strange conversation, "Yo, Porcelain what is up with this school? It's like a freakin mansion."

"Hello Satan, I mean Santana. Lovely of you to drop by and visit." He watched as her smirk turned sinister.

"And who are these fine boys?" She asked, looking past Kurt to the stunned boys behind him.

Kurt sighed and pointed them out, "Wes, David, Zach, Nikel and Blaine. Boys meet Brittany and Santana. We use to go to school together."

"I've missed you Dolphin. Did you miss me? When are you coming back? This doesn't look like camp."

"Yes I missed you. This is my school not camp. I'm not going back to McKinley but I'll visit you on the weekends." Kurt answered, sharing a look with Santana.

"Why does she call you dolphin?" Wes asked, looking at the strange girl, "And Porcelain."

"I don't know why dolphin but Porcelain is from when I was a cheerio."

"You were a breakfast cereal?" Zach asked, "Delicious."

"Did you know Dolphins are just gay sharks?" Brittany asked smiling that spacy smile of hers.

"That is really offensive-" Nikel started.

"Don't." Kurt cut him off. He turned to them and said in a low voice, "Brittany is very…childlike. She sees the world in a very unique way. It's best to humor her."

"She's your ex-girlfriend right?" Blaine asked, still looking at the blonde girl.

"Ex-girlfriend?" Zach repeated confused.

Kurt blushed and stepped away from them towards the two girls, "Yeah…we should probably go. I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah I dated Kurt but then we had to break up. He's capital G-"

"Brittany, we should go before Lord Tubbington figure out where you hid your diary." Santana stepped in this time.

"It's under my bed, he won't look there."

Kurt turned towards the boys, "I'll see you tomorrow at Sectionals. Bye."

"Bye Kurt. See you tomorrow." Blaine replied with a little wave.

"Bye Kurt, we'll miss you so much!" Zach whined grabbing onto Nikel's hand, "Look Nike I feel like we're sending our child off to summer camp and won't see them forever."

Nikel rolled his eyes, "Yes Z, we're sending our child off to summer camp for the night. Well see him tomorrow. I'll sleep in your room tonight so you're not lonely."

"Ew no you smell."

"Is everyone here twins? They're all dressed the same." Brittany asked as she was led away by Kurt and Santana.

Blaine watched them go with a thoughtful look on his face. Kurt seemed so much more relaxed around those two girls. More than he's been his entire time at Dalton. He was obviously very close to them, trusting them. Blaine only wished Kurt would open up to him like that. No, bad thoughts. Kurt's straight. He just left with his ex-girlfriend for god's sake.

"Hey Blaine, you okay?" Zach asked, tilting his head a little.

"Yeah, I just never have seen Kurt smile like that."

"We'll see him tomorrow. Another day to try and make him smile." Zach's smiled a very evil smile, "And now let's play an epic round of Mario Party until practice."

"Fine, but I refuse to be Princess Peach." Nikel said rolling his eyes. The others agreed, what else were they going to do. Homework was overrated.

* * *

><p>"So you making friends, Porcelain?" Santana drove with Brittany and Kurt in the backseat.<p>

"Does it really matter, Santana?"

She glared at him in the rearview mirror, "Hey don't get snippy with me. You just seemed pretty close to them."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Brittany asked, smiling brightly.

"No, Brit."

"Oh…does that mean you're not gay? Can we make out?"

"I'm gay, Brit."

"Yeah, he's just in the closet." Santana taunted.

"But he's in the car."

"Don't worry about it, Brittany." She replied, "So about those boys…"

Kurt groaned this was going to be a long drive.

"Fine, I'll leave you alone about them. For now. Remember we'll see them tomorrow at Sectionals, before we mop the floor with them."

He closed his eyes, hoping if he fell asleep or even fake slept they'd stop talking. He nearly jumped out of skin when he felt a small hand slip into his and another hand lightly stroking his shoulder. As he started to fall asleep a voice from a distant memory sounded in his mind.

"_Everyone always pets my hair to make me feel better but I know you hate people touching your hair so I'll pet your shoulder."_

When he woke up he was on the couch in his living room. Disoriented he sat up and looked around. When did he get here? _How_ did he get here?

"Oh good you're awake. Are you hungry?" He looked to see Carole come into the room smiling.

"Sure." He replied. Carole looked startled for a minute before smiling widely and headed towards the kitchen. Confused, Kurt just stood there going over the conversation trying to figure out what happened to make her smile like that.

Burt walked in then, "Hey kid, how are you doing? How's school?"

Kurt bit his lip remembering what happened the last time he saw his father. When he stormed out of the car, "School's fine. I'm going to watch everyone at Sectionals tomorrow."

"You're voice…it's…"

Then it hit him. He was talking normal. He didn't even realize; it never crossed his mind to take a lower register like he usually did.

"Yeah…I'm going to go eat now."

He was almost done eating when Finn wandered into the kitchen, "Hey, you're home! Burt said you were coming to watch us at Sectionals tomorrow. That's awesome dude, I mean Kurt. Everybody will be really excited to see you!"

He froze. The New Directions crew minus Finn, Brittany and Santana haven't seen him since a few days after the attack when they came to the hospital. He wasn't looking forward to seeing them again. It was going to be awkward.

Tomorrow was going to come too soon.

* * *

><p>"So the Hipsters sing first then it's the Warblers then us." Finn was explaining to Kurt as they walked into the building where Sectionals were taking place, "So I'm going to figure out where were supposed to be today do you want to come with me or…"<p>

"I'll go sit down." Kurt replied already shifting away from Finn, who just shrugged and walked away.

Kurt did want to go with him but that would surely lead straight to the rest of the New Directions. Instead of sitting down though he started to walk around looking around at the beautiful building.

"Then go down to Seven Eleven and get some. I need raisinettes!" Kurt wandered over towards the voice, recognizing it. There stood Rachel yelling at the poor boy behind the counter who was looking very scared. Against his better judgment he approached the enraged girl.

"Carb loading?" He asked, saying the first thing that popped into his head.

Rachel whipped around to stare at him, obviously startled.

"Kurt? Oh my gosh I missed you so much. How are you? And they're for Lauren Zizes. Puck got her to take your place so we could compete. She won't go on without her damn candy."

Lauren Zizes? The wrestler. Kurt thought confused.

It must've showed on his face because she added, "She's a warm body."

"I'm…doing okay." Kurt finished lamely, "Dalton's…fine."

"We missed you. I'm surprised you didn't join the warblers. You know it wouldn't have been betraying us we all understand you weren't safe at McKinley. I mean seriously had Brittany and Santana not-"

"I've missed you guys too." Kurt cut her off, not wanting to remember what happened to him at this moment. Honestly he had expected that seeing them again would've brought the memories back instantly, but thankfully they hadn't.

"We're a mess Kurt. I don't have a single solo today and I just found out Finn had sex with Santana last year."

"You didn't know?" Kurt asked shocked. Seriously, though, the whole glee club knew.

"Hey Kurt you made it!" Kurt went rigid before turning to see Blaine, Wes, David and Zach walking up to him.

Rachel smiled as soon as she saw their blazers, "You must be some of the Dalton Academy Warblers. Though we're rivals I'd like to thank you for taking care of Kurt for us."

"Rachel." Kurt hissed, lowering his tone.

Blaine's smiled turn to that of confusion as he looked at the small girl, "Uh, Hi I'm Blaine Anderson, this is Wes Montgomery, David Thompson and Zach Bendig."

"Rachel Berry upcoming star. I was in glee club with Kurt in McKinley."

"You were in glee club?" Wes asked suddenly really interested.

Kurt continued to glare at Rachel mentally telling her to shut up. Actually noticing this she smiled brightly, "Yep, well I better get back to my group. See you later, Kurt. Don't be a stranger."

With that she booked it out of the area. Kurt slowly turned to the look at the boys, "So break a leg today."

"Oh no, why didn't you tell us you sang?"

"_Maybe you should sing a song about it."_

"I don't sing anymore." His tone froze their questions in their throats, "So is Nikel here?"

"Yep!" Zach replied, "He and Loretta already sat down. We were hoping to find you so I could escort you to them…unless you have someone else to sit with?"

"No, my step-brother is in New Directions but our parents couldn't come due to other obligations."

"Well then good sir, follow me and I'll lead you to the damned I mean Nikel." Zach grinned.

"Same difference." David grumbled as they headed towards the audience seating.

"How are you today, Kurt?" Blaine asked moving to walk next to him.

"Fine." He hesitated for a moment, "And yourself?"

"Nervous. Though I do believe we made the right choice in songs."

"You'll be fine, I'm sure. You're singing lead after all."

Kurt's eyes widened after he said that. Was he flirting with Blaine? Shit. He didn't need that right now. Hopefully Blaine didn't notice.

Lucky for him, Blaine was pretty oblivious. Zach, however, was watching them with a critical eye.

They just entered the main theater area when another warbler approached them to tell them they had to go to the green room to prepare.

"Well Nikel's right there." Zach pointed, Kurt followed his finger to see Nikel chatting with Loretta. He nodded. Blaine stayed behind as the other boys left.

"I hope you enjoy the show."

"Break a leg, Blaine."

After Blaine left Kurt went over towards Nikel and Loretta. They were apparently arguing.

"I'm just saying Nikel did you honestly have to spend the night with Zach. Is he a child?"

"It's like having a sleepover at your house. I don't see the problem here."

"The problem? The problem is Zach's a fucking psycho. Did you sleep on the floor or in Kurt's bed?"

"Neither. I told Zach we could just share his bed."

"You got to be shitting me, Nikel."

"What's the big deal, Loretta? Zach's my best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend?"

"You're my girlfriend. He's my best guy friend. There's a difference."

"We've known each other since we were five, Nikel. Trust me when I say Zach's-"

"Hey guys." Kurt interrupted not sure what Loretta was going to say but having a feeling it was going to be bad.

"Hey Kurt, excited for the big showdown?" Nikel asked as Kurt took a seat next to him. Loretta was on the other side of him.

"Showdown? It's singing." Loretta grumbled, "Why are we here again?"

"To support my friends, Loretta. You know, people outside of you." Nikel was obviously annoyed with the earlier conversation, "You didn't have to come."

"I'm your girlfriend, of course I was going to come."

"How long have you two been dating?" Kurt couldn't help but ask.

"Two years, but we've lived next door to each other since we were five." Loretta said, while Nikel muttered, "Too long."

"That's not funny, Nikel." She jabbed him in the side.

"Oh you know I love you."

Kurt was saved from further conversation by the lights dimming and the show began. The Hipsters did a surprisingly good rendition of "The Living Years." The Warblers nailed "Hey Soul Sister" and Kurt and Nikel jumped up first to clap for them. Loretta stayed sitting, apparently not enjoying the show. Nikel grumbling something about her being bitter that the Crawford Day girl's glee club not making it.

Finally New Direction showed. Kurt was quietly surprised to see Quinn and Sam singing together. So that's what Rachel meant but not having a solo. Even more surprising was Santana singing the next song. The bitch didn't even tell him she had a solo and she nailed "Valerie."

When the judge announced both the Warblers and New Directions as winners to move on, the crowd went nuts. As people started to leave, Kurt stuck near Nikel and Loretta waiting for the rest of the boys. He already told Finn he was going out to eat and Finn promised that he had a ride home.

* * *

><p>"Had we sang Teenage Dream we would've won." Zach teased as he, Nikel, Loretta, Blaine and Kurt sat in breadstix stating they never ate there in their life and they knew it was close to Kurt's home so it would be perfect.<p>

"Shut up, Zach. I wanted to sing that song so sue me."

"Can…Can I?"

"No you idiot." Loretta snapped.

Zach glared at her, "Shut up PMS avenger."

"Please don't start on this again." Nikel snapped, sitting between them at the around table.

"They're like children." Blaine stage whispered to Kurt. Kurt nodded in agreement.

"Am not!" Zach argued, before looking at his food, "Nikel cut my food for me."

"Do you want him to chew it for you too?"

"I hope you choke, Loretta."

"Children." Nikel stressed the word.

Kurt couldn't help but giggle at that. Blaine smiled at him, clearly happy that Kurt was starting to open up.

"Look what we have here. If it isn't lady face and his some little butt buddies." The whole table froze and looked to see two football jocks standing near them. Kurt's eyes widened recognizing Azimio and another jock. Thankfully Karofsky wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Excuse me, what did you just say?" Nikel asked his voice shocked.

"I said we don't need you fucking fags around here." Azimio's smirk turned sinister, "I thought you learned your lesson homo, but it looks like you came back for more."

Kurt couldn't talk, couldn't move. His head started to hurt and his breathing picked up.

"We're just trying to enjoy our dinner; we don't want any trouble," Zach stated, glaring at the large boy, "I think you should leave."

"No, I think you should. We have no problem showing you fags your place in the world. Ain't that right, Hummel?"

Eyes all turned to Kurt, who was physically shaking, his eyes wider than ever. He clumsily got up from the table and ran out of the restaurant.

He ran to this car, shaking too hard to get his key in the lock.

"_Careful not to touch him too much, Azimio, don't want to catch the gay."_

He withheld a sob.

"_Yeah I hear a single touch can turn ya into a fag."_

"Stop." He mumbled, "Stop, stop, stop."

"Kurt?"

Kurt spun around, gasping to see Blaine staring at him the rest behind him. They looked concerned.

"_Might want to disinfect that hand, dude. Next thing you know you'll be wearing tight pants, listening to musicals, and singing about your feelings in a girlie voice."_

He put his hands over his ears, "Stop it, stop it, stop it!"

"Kurt!" Blaine took a step towards him only for Kurt to scream, crouching down next to the door of his car, hands still over his ears. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to stop the memories.

"_If you tell anyone, I will kill you."_

"Please don't kill me, I won't tell I promise I won't tell." He pleaded moving his hands to grip his stomach.

_Kurt felt a pressure. A knife dug into his stomach._

He screamed one more time and collapsed. Blaine ran forward and caught him right before his head hit the ground.

They had no idea what to do. Not really thinking Blaine grabbed Kurt's phone and clicked on Brittany's number.

"Sup Porcelain?"

"Is this Brittany?" Blaine asked.

"No this is Santana. Who the fuck is this?"

"Blaine, Kurt's friend. Umm…Kurt collapsed outside of the Breadstix-"

"We'll be right there." Was all he heard before nothing. She hung up on him.

* * *

><p>Yeah so this linebreak is the end of the chapter. Sorry about all the line breaks. For some reason, wont just let me double space some areas like it use to. Anyways, that ended up being way longer than I planned. I hope everybody liked it. Read and review, please. By the way I have a little oneshot on my website that's about how Nikel and Zach met. There will be more eventually.<p> 


	8. Nathan

So this chapter took me awhile to write. Kurt kinda "came out" earlier than I planned him to in this story and in a completely different setting. My own characters betrayed me…Because of that I had to rethink this whole chapter and what I wanted out of it. Also they weren't supposed to find out Kurt sang at least like that. Oh well they still don't know how well he can sing so I'll let that one go.

If anyone reads my website for this you'll already know this but for those of you who don't I want to let you know one of my M.O when it comes to stories, I don't want anyone saying they weren't warned haha:

**Somebody almost always dies. No matter how hard I try, one of my OC's die.**

With that said, it seems I'm keeping it true for this story as well. Somebody will die. I know who already and no, I won't share. I already wrote the death scene and it made me sad.

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I do want to answer a few things.

dwelian: Why Kurt drove will be explained in this chapter but the simple answer is: He isn't supposed to! I'm glad somebody else caught that. I originally had the reason in the last chapter but took it out since it seemed a little forced, so its explained in this one.

Purpleerana: I keep saying the same thing, can Klaine happen soon haha. I may be writing this story but the characters totally control it.

PencilLootz: there will be at least one more confrontation; I already have the scene written, if not more, between Kurt and his tormentors.

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! I really hope you enjoy the chapter. P.S this chapter is not Beta'd. She's unable to beta for me at the moment.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee just OC's or 'A boy like that' from West Side Story.

* * *

><p><em>'When love comes so strong<em>  
><em> There is no right or wrong <em>  
><em>Your love is your life'<em>

"We'll be right there." Was all he heard before nothing. She hung up on him.

He clicked the phone off and looked helplessly up at the rest of the group. Nikel moved first reaching out to feel Kurt's pulse.

"It's really quick for someone passed out." He commented, pulling his hand away. He turned to Loretta, "Go to my car and get my coat so we can lay him down."

She huffed but left to do it. Zach was already shrugging his coat off and folding it to make a pillow. When Loretta came back they laid him on Nikel's coat with Zach's.

"So…what the fuck just happened?" Loretta asked, while they all sat around the unconscious boy waiting for his other friends to get there. They honestly had no idea what to do in this situation though the idea that they probably should've taken him to a hospital came up.

"Well Loretta, obviously Kurt had a panic attack caused by seeing that douchebag inside and without his meds it became so severe he passed out. Apparently his post-traumatic stress disorder got the best of him." Zach said, glaring at the girl in front of him.

Everybody else just stared at him like he grew a second head. Oh…he said too much again.

"H-He-he's on medication?" Blaine sounded shocked, looking down at the boy, "Wait, what do you mean by post-traumatic stress disorder?"

"That's for Kurt to tell you, not this bozo." Santana walked towards them, Brittany moving in front of her to reach Kurt.

"Dolphin? Wake up dolphin?" Brittany looked really distressed, tears in her eyes, "He's not waking up Santana, he's not waking up again."

"Dolphin?" Loretta asked.

"Yeah Dolphins are just gay sharks."

"And Kurt's gay so you call him that?"

"Do we really need to discuss this right now?" Santana snapped, "Come on, pick him up. We need to take him to the hospital. I'm sure his therapist needs to see him."

'Therapist' Nikel mouthed to Zach who just shrugged.

"No. No hospital." Kurt groaned, not opening his eyes.

Brittany squealed leaning down to wrap her arms around Kurt's neck, "You're awake! You're awake, you're awake, you're awake."

"Britt…let go."

She didn't, if anything she squeezed harder, "No. If I let go you might disappear and I'll never see you again."

Kurt sighed and let her hold onto him as long as she wanted.

Santana, however, grumbled under her breath before gently grabbing Brittany's arm and pulled her away from the boy. He continued to lie on the ground, his eyes closed, trying to center himself.

"We need to take to you to the hospital, Kurt."

"No."

"This isn't up for debate. You need to see a doctor, get your meds changed, something. This…this isn't healthy."

"They'll put me in a psych ward." He growled, clenching his fists. The boys around him stared at Kurt shocked, "Dr. Baumer wants to put in the recommendation."

Santana looked startled for a moment before frowning. "Fucking bitch," She grumbled, "Fine, no hospital. Well what do you suggest? You can't exactly go home like this and my parents are home and you know what happened the last time you can over."

Santana's parents weren't exactly tolerant or opened minded. Her mother just yelled a lot in Hispanic as Santana brought him upstairs. It really didn't sound good. It was also why Santana refused to acknowledge her feeling for Brittany.

Before he could ask she continued, "And Brittany's family isn't home so she's staying at my house."

"My parents don't let me stay home alone anymore." Brittany added, with a nod.

Kurt squinted his eyes open, his head was pounding and he was cold. He tried hard to stay focused on the conversation to make sure his memories stayed away. Even though sometimes when Brittany talked it just gave him more of a headache. This was going to be one of those times. His eyes slipped closed again.

"We can take him to Sammy's." Everybody turned to look at Zach, who shrugged, "What? His family lives like 10 minutes away from here."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Nikel asked, biting his lip. He looked over an extremely pale Kurt Hummel; he really didn't want to scare Sammy's parents.

"I'll call Sammy and ask." Blaine announced trying to find something to do.

"I'll call Burt. He likes me." Santana smirked, pulling out her phone as well. Kurt wanted to snort, no he didn't. "Oh wait, on second thought Brittany call Burt and repeat exactly what I say."

She nodded and took the phone, "Mr. Hummel, its Brittany. Hey we ran into Kurt at Breadstix and Santana and I want him to sleep over. He didn't want to call you because he thought you'd say no but I told him you wouldn't. He can right? He has to help me tell my cat that it is not okay to smoke in the house."

Santana rolled her eyes as Brittany ad-libbed at the end.

"Okay thank you, Mr. Hummel. I'm sure my cat will thank you too when he doesn't get lung cancer. Kurt can stay over!" she squealed, hanging up.

"Sammy says we can come over."

"So Kurt isn't coming to your house?" Brittany looked at Santana, her eyes wide.

"No, Brittany we were lying to Burt."

"So who's going to tell Lord Tubbington not to smoke in the house?"

"I will." Santana replied.

"Oh okay."

"Give me directions to Sammy's house." Santana ordered standing up, "I'll stop at Hummel's and get some of Kurt's shit. I'll just tell Burt I dropped Brittany and him off back to my house already because of her cat issues. Trust me, when it comes to Brittany, he'll believe me."

"What do we do with Kurt's vehicle?"

Santana raised an eyebrow, as if realizing it was Kurt's vehicle they were standing next to, before looking at Kurt, "You're not supposed to be driving when taking all those meds, how did you manage that? Nevermind, I already know, stupid gullible Finn. I can't believe that idiot let you drive. I am so going Lima Heights on his ass."

"Finn's at Pucks. Needs car." Kurt mumbled, starting to drift off. He was exhausted, panic attacks always exhausted him.

Santana rolled her eyes, "Fine new plan. Blondie," She pointed to Zach, "You'll follow me in Kurt's car to Pucks. We'll drop off the car and you'll hop in with Britt and me. You both will _hide_ while I go into Kurt's house to get his stuff and you'll direct me to this Sammy's house. Got it?"

Everybody nodded.

* * *

><p>It took Nikel and Zach to get Kurt up and into Nikel's vehicle as Kurt was too shaky still to stand properly. Loretta claimed she couldn't go to Sammy's and took her car to go home. Zach, Santana and Brittany took off to go do their task, leaving Nikel and Blaine to take Kurt to Sammy's.<p>

Blaine glanced back at Kurt from the passenger seat while Nikel drove. He was so very, very pale and he would randomly shake, twitch. He looked like he was asleep, but Blaine couldn't be sure.

Nikel glanced at him as well in the rearview mirror, "What the hell happened to him?"

Blaine knew he wasn't talking about tonight, "I don't know. You heard him didn't you? He asked me not to kill him. I faced bullying at my old school too but never…"

"Don't think about it." Blaine looked up at the raw emotion in Nikel's voice.

"Nikel? Are you okay?"

"When I look at Kurt…sometimes I see…" He sighed, "I see Nathan, at least how Nathan was the last few week he…he was alive. He'd flinch sometimes, get real quiet. He was one of my best friends, Blaine. Zach, him and I were really close and we didn't see it. And Gabriel and Sammy…god."

"Nikel."

He glanced away from the road to look at Blaine, "Sorry. So uh, have you ever been to Sammy's?"

"No, I just know Sammy pretty much lives there. Rarely stays at Daltons, because he feels bad leaving his parents alone."

"Just, um, don't mention to Sammy's parents about Kurt's bullying. They still haven't really accepted Nathan's gone and try not to stare at the pictures. If we see them we'll just say Kurt fell or something. You explained the situation to Sammy right?"

Blaine nodded, "Kind of, I told him Kurt had another panic attack and looked pretty rough and we didn't want to worry his parents."

They pulled up to Sammy's two-story house. It was a nice tan color and had shrubbery all around it. Sammy was already waiting at the door, probably seeing their car pull up. Blaine and Nikel jumped out and Nikel picked Kurt up bridal style. The boy was obvious asleep.

"Wow he is really pale." Sammy commented as they walked inside.

"And light." Nikel mumbled, frowning.

They walked through the kitchen and living room to a door that went downstairs, "We'll go to my room. My parents are upstairs."

They followed him down to the basement and laid Kurt on Sammy's bed. Sammy went into the bathroom and came back with a warm rag they put on Kurt's forehead.

"Zach will be here soon with some of Kurt's things. Two of his friends were going to get it." Blaine said just for something to break the silence.

"So what happened anyways?" Sammy asked, opening up a mini-fridge.

Blaine raised an eyebrow at the beer he pulled out but didn't say anything, "Some homophobe was giving us crap at dinner. I guess he caused problems for Kurt before because he ran out and when we followed, starting crying and screaming. He finally passed out. Zach said he has post-traumatic stress disorder."

Sammy didn't seem shocked that Kurt was apparently gay. He just sat down on the floor leaning against the bed and glanced up to see Kurt's face, scrunched up like he was about to awake. Before he could say anything a beep interrupted him. Blaine glanced at his phone, "Zach's almost here. I'll head up and grab him."

"I'll come with you. I want to ask that Santana girl something."

Sammy watched them go and with that he was left alone with Kurt.

"I'm guessing this is your room." Sammy looked back towards Kurt to see him looking at him with drowsy eyes, but Sammy could see the uncertainty, the fear, behind them.

"Yeah, how ya feeling?"

"Like I ran into a wall." He slowly sat up and looked around him. He flinched when he saw himself in the mirror. He was unbelievably pale and his hair was sticking up everywhere. Ugh, gross.

"Like your worlds shaking but there's nothing to hold onto so you just wait for it to fall apart."

Kurt turned to look at Sammy who was staring straight ahead, taking a swig of beer, "How did you-"

"That's how I felt when Nathan died. Everybody has their demons, Kurt, it's just how do you want to control them. My parents pretend that any day now Nathan will walk through that door and everything will go back to normal. I slowly drown myself. How do you handle your demons Kurt?"

They heard the footsteps coming down the stairs and Zach whining to Nikel about something. Blaine was telling them both to shut up.

"I run." He replied, collapsing back onto the bed.

The boys reached the bottom of the steps and Zach immediately bounded over to the bed, plopped down right next to Kurt causing the bed to shake, "We brought you items!"

"Stop shaking the bed, I'm going to get sick." Kurt moaned, sitting back up.

He took the bag from Zach and started shifting through it. He scowled when he saw the clothes Santana grabbed for him. It was what he used to wear: skinny jeans, a nice white shirt and a black vest, the little bitch. She knew he didn't wear that kind of stuff anymore. At least the pajamas were what could be considered normal.

"Kurt." Kurt looked up to see Nikel hovering near the bed. Blaine beside him, "Can we talk about what happened tonight?"

Kurt sighed and ran a hand over his face, "I don't know where to start or what to say."

Zach snorted and leaned up against the headboard. Nikel took a seat on the floor in front of Sammy and Blaine sat on the end of the bed.

"Maybe you should start with talking in your normal tone."

Kurt shot Zach a dirty look before blowing out a puff of air sharply. He opened his mouth a few times only to close it.

"Do we need to play 5 questions again?" Zach asked, smirking.

He rolled his eyes, "No Zach. With this many people it'd take forever."

Nikel blinked, surprised "Kurt, your voice is-"

"High, I know. It's my natural tone. I took to a lower register to…keep attention off myself."

"It's beautiful." Blaine breathed out too low for Kurt to hear. Sammy turned and raised an eyebrow though.

They were quiet for a moment before Blaine hesitantly put his hand on Kurt's leg, "You don't have to explain everything to us; we just want to understand."

"Right," Kurt looked up at the ceiling, "I use to go to McKinley High. I was in the glee club and we're considered the lowest of the low. We were teased daily. On top of that I was tormented for…being gay." It was the first time Kurt actually confirmed what the jock said to them tonight, "It hit a boiling point about a month before I came to Dalton and I ended up at the hospital. Sometimes the memories become too much and what you saw tonight happens."

"That's what happened to you that morning too, wasn't it?" Sammy asked quietly.

Kurt nodded. He finally looked at Blaine to see tears in his eyes, "Why did you run when you found out about me?"

Kurt felt tears fill his own eyes, "Don't you see Blaine. I use to be out and proud, but there's a difference. People talk to you, smile at you, they want to be your friend and they know! They know you're gay and it doesn't matter to them. They hug you and pat your back, while all the guys I know won't touch me unless they have to. Apparently gay is contagious and none of them want to turn into a freak. How can you be so popular, Blaine? That's not how it works. Not in the real world."

His breathing started to pick up and Kurt could feel himself falling into another panic attack.

"Kurt-"

"NO!" Kurt cried, "How does being gay get you the lead spot on the warblers, all these friends, all these people who look up to you when all it got me was tortured. Beaten so badly I was unconscious for three days." He looked at Blaine was such tortured eyes, it almost took his breath away, "Guys jump to your defense when they think somebody is giving you a hard time for being gay while people pretended not to see or hear when someone did something or said something to me. You got rewards; I got stabbed."

'_We don't need to worry about you trying to cop a peek at our junk in the shower. Trying to turn all us normal boys into fags like you. Now we'll make sure of it.'_

Putting one hand to his heaving chest, he dug into his bag and grabbed a pill bottle. Without saying another word he jumped off the bed and all but ran to the bathroom slamming the door behind him.

The others all looked at each other as they heard running water. Zach grabbed Kurt's bag and looked into the familiar medical bag with all his pills, "Oh he took the Seredyn bottle."

"Why did he take the whole bottle with him? He'll be okay, right?" Sammy asked, sounding worried. He kept his eyes on the bathroom door.

"I'm sure he will be." Zach replied, with a shrug, "The pills are for his panic attacks."

They were quiet for a moment. Each one going over what just happened.

"When Kurt said stabbed do you- do you think he meant literally?" Blaine voice was nearly a whisper. He was picking at the comforter, still deep in thought.

"I hope not." Was all Zach said.

"Can I talk to Kurt for a moment?" Nikel asked looking at the others.

Sammy sighed and stood up, "Sure. Blaine, Zach, let's get some food."

Nikel waited until they went upstairs before heading to the bathroom door and knocking softly, "Kurt? Can I come in?"

There was a moment of hesitation before a quiet "sure."

Twisting the knob, Nikel opened the bathroom door to find Kurt sitting on the ledge of the bathtub, staring at the floor, rolling the bottle of pills in his hand. His breathing calmed quite a bit, but he was still abnormally pale. Nikel closed the door behind and leaned against the door.

He didn't say anything at first, just looked Kurt over. He spoke just as Kurt was about to question why he was there.

"I wish you could've met Nathan."

Kurt blinked, confused, "Nathan?"

"Sammy's older brother. He would've been 19 in a couple of months, but instead he died a week before he was supposed to turn 17. Because he killed himself. You see, he came to Dalton for the same reason you and Blaine did, to escape bullies. His parents liked the school so much they sent Sammy as well. Everybody liked him; in fact, he was actually one of the soloists for the Warblers."

Kurt continued to stare at the floor, but stopped playing with the bottle of pills. Nikel had his full attention.

"During his Junior year, Nathan started pulling away. Nothing major, just little things like he'd spend a lot of time in his room after Warbler practice instead of hanging out with us. He wouldn't take his boyfriend outside of Dalton on dates. He started flinching at loud noises, but laughed it off like he was just surprised. One day he didn't show up to Warbler practice. Sammy, who was a sophomore at the time, left practice to look for him."

Nikel stopped to take a shaky breath before letting it out slowly, "Sammy found him hanging from his dorm room ceiling."

Kurt let out a gasp, "It wasn't until after he died we found the emails some of his old classmates had sent him, all their hateful word. Apparent little 'meet ups' they had with him at the mall and terrifying phone calls. He took the coward's way out and it just destroyed Sammy. Did you know Sammy was supposed to be a senior this year? He turns 18 in May, but after Nathan's death his parents pulled him out of school for the rest of the year to…recover. He was the only one who received a note from Nathan after his death.

"Now Sammy's parents, well...his parents refuse to acknowledge his death. They live in this fantasy world, Sammy turned into an alcoholic, Zach turned really clinging and Gabriel became an ass."

"Gabriel? He was friends with you guys as well?" The egoistical prick was the unspoken tone.

Nikel caught Kurt's eyes and gave him a sad smile, "Nathan was his boyfriend.

A knock on the door interrupted them, "We brought food if you want to come out now. Or we'll just eat it all. And you can STARVE!"

Nikel rolled his eyes, "Zach doesn't deal well with somber moods. It's best to indulge him."

He opened up the door and pushed Zach back, "Don't be such a fat-ass, Zach, share with the rest."

He turned back towards Kurt, "Come out when you're ready."

"Zach, drop that cookie!"

Kurt sat in the bathroom a little longer trying to absorb Nikel's words. Why did he tell him all that?

"Hey." Kurt looked up to see Blaine in the doorway looking unsure, "We're going to put in a movie. Either Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or Shrek 2, any preference?"

"Harry Potter."

"Harry Potter wins!" Blaine yelled behind him before turning to Kurt with a grin, "Zach's outvoted again." He held out his hand, "Come on."

Grabbing it he let the shorter boy pull him back into Sammy's room and to the bed. Sammy was in front of the bed leaning against it while Nikel and Zach were lying on the floor next to each other, Zach complaining how nobody ever wanted to watch his favorite movies. Nikel rolled his eyes and lightly cuffed Zach on the back of the head.

Blaine pulled Kurt over to the bed and they both laid down on their stomachs side by side with just a few inches between them facing the T.V.

As the movie played, one by one the boys fell asleep until it was only Kurt and Blaine left. Kurt had his head down barely watching the movie anymore.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah Blaine?"

"Did you mean what you said earlier?"

"Every word."

Blaine was quiet again and just as Kurt was about to drift off Blaine spoke, "Even about…about being stabbed?"

Kurt froze, focusing very hard to will away the memory, "Some of kids at my school…well, hated me for what I am. They beat me, they stabbed me and they left me for dead."

He spared a glance up at Blaine who was looking at him with tears in his eyes, "I'm so sorry, Kurt." He whispered.

"I owe Santana and Brittany my life."

Blaine didn't say anything, he just laid completely down on the bed and lightly touched Kurt's arm. When he didn't pull back, he tightened his grip a bit and pulled Kurt closer so they were lying side by side touching. He, very lightly, wrapped his arms around him. Kurt stiffened for a brief moment before relaxing. He had to remind himself Blaine wouldn't hurt him. With that he drifted off to sleep.

"_Kurt!"_

_He couldn't even open his eyes to see who was there. _

"_Brittany, call an ambulance." A sharp voice growled as he felt a hand against his good wrist for a second while another pressed into his stomach. Who's Brittany? He felt he should know. There were murmurs for a few brief moments, before a gentle hand began to pet his shoulder while another grabbed his hand, "Everyone always pets my hair to make me feel better, but I know you hate people touching your hair so I'll pet your shoulder. " A soft voice whispered over the dull ringing, "Plus I like your baby soft hands."_

_He lost consciousness yet again, while someone hummed softly next to him._

* * *

><p>Kurt woke up to giggling. Honest to god, giggling. He looked up to see Zach standing over him holding his phone out. It took Kurt a second to figure out he was still wrapped up in Blaine's arms…and Zach was taking a picture. He jumped up –waking Blaine in the process- and went to grab the phone out of Zach's hand.<p>

"Oh no, you don't! You two look so damn adorable!" Zach fake-gushed, pocketing his phone.

"Why are you shouting so early in the morning?" Blaine groaned, sitting up.

"Zach was taking pictures of you guys sleeping. Don't even bother trying to get them deleted. Zach's probably resaved like 10 copies." Nikel stood next to Sammy who was shaking his head.

"You all suck." Blaine grumbled, getting up. He was still in yesterday's clothing but didn't have anything to change into.

"And you look like you're doing the walk of shame." Zach teased.

"You don't have a change of clothes either so wouldn't you be too?"

"Can't walk of shame when you're proud of it!"

"Z, you're proud of everything you do, good or bad." Nikel interjected.

"Damn straight!"

They just laughed. Kurt bit his lip, "I should probably go home before my dad gets worried."

"Go change and we'll head out." Nikel agreed.

Kurt grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom. Wrinkling his nose, he slowly put on the clothes and looked at himself in the mirror. Even without his hair styled, he could see bits of his old self in the mirror. He wanted to throw up.  
><em><br>"Fag"_

"_Next thing you know you'll be wearing tight pants"_

"Kurt? You've been in there for a while now. Are you okay?"

Kurt shook out of his memories and quickly took his medication before walking out the bathroom. He was met with stunned silence. Everybody was gaping at him.

"Damn, Kurt, you look hot! Nice pants, wanna fuck?" Kurt stared at Zach with wide eyes, "Dude, I'm joking, but you do look awesome."

Nikel rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, let's go." He headed up the stairs.

"I'm sorry, Nike, I promise you're the hottest of them all. Don't leave me behind!" Zach yelled bolting up the stairs after his best friend. Kurt refrained from rolling his eyes, the boy wasn't very subtle.

The rest headed upstairs as well. Once at the door, Kurt turned to Sammy, "Thank you, for everything."

"See you at school tomorrow, Kurt."

The drive home was a loud one with Zach singing along to every song on the radio then complaining when nobody would join in. Nikel shook his head, but indulged his stupid friend. Kurt and Blaine sat in back in silence. They kept glancing at each other though, giving a small smile when their eyes met.

Kurt directed them to his house and got out.

"Thank you as well. For listening and well…not freaking out."

"See you bright and early tomorrow Kurt!" Zach smiled.

"Actually I have…uh therapy session so I won't be there until lunch." He mumbled, embarrassed.

"Oh, will you tell your doctor what happened yesterday?"

Kurt looked conflicted, "Yeah, I suppose. Bye now."

He slammed the door to the car and walked into his house. The three boys watched him go before Nikel carefully backed out of the driveway.

"You know," Zach said, a thoughtful expression on his face, "He has a nice ass in those jeans."

Nikel and Blaine groaned, "Zach really?"

"You know sometimes I think you're gay."

Zach grinned, "You're just jealous because I'm awesome. You had the same thought but I'm just cool enough to say it."

"Okay, wonder boy, I'm so kicking your ass in Call of Duty when we get back. We'll see how awesome you are then."

"Whatever, you'll be kissing my ass, Nike."

Blaine ignored the two in the front seat, looking behind him to see Kurt's house fade away with the distance. He really did like Kurt and Zach was right. Kurt looked amazing in those jeans.

* * *

><p>Well that's all for now, people. We're heading into Klaine territory now. We'll also be meeting Allina, Sammy's girlfriend next chapter, and a confrontation with Gabriel.<p>

Now I have a bit of dilemma. I originally planned to have a chapter that is a flashback to what happened to Kurt. Now I'm thinking that it will never be fully revealed besides only what is seen in Kurt's memories to allow my readers to draw some of their own conclusions. Which would you prefer?


	9. Everyone has their demons

So my plan was not to show what actually happened to Kurt, I figured that would just be an awkward scene in the story so I'm glad most agree. After I'm done posting this chapter there will be a page on my website (Link on my profile) for anyone who wants to read what actually happened. It's under Broken Bird sing link called The Attack. It is Un-Beta'd.

Thanks again for the wonderful reviews! I'm so glad people like this story! Though I'm not sure how long it's going to be, I'm going to have to sit down and figure that out after this chapter. For all I know it may be drawing to a close. I leave it up to my characters.

s0leil- Yeah that was a miswrite on my part. I meant to put Junior in for Kurt's grade and make him the same grade as Blaine like everybody thought he was. I'll go back and change it. I didn't even realize I wrote Sophomore and my Beta just probably thought I was being weird. Thanks so much for catching that!

PencilLootz: That will be probably revealed as the chapter's progress just not all in one scene like if I actually wrote the whole flashback scene.

dwelian: You know with these character's the one who's supposed to die might just be saved in the end but at the moment, it's still written in the cards. And when you said Santana going "Lima Heights" on Gabriel I just had the most entertaining idea.

perchance to wake: Exactly and that's something Kurt's just not understanding. He thinks its just Blaine but it's okay! Blaine will set him right!

rockenweirdo: I'm not sure if Kurt hates his therapist because she's trying to help him and he doesn't want it or if she just really sucks. That'll be decided soon.

On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee just OC's.

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><p>"Kurt, how are we doing today?" Dr. Baumer asked, folder out ready to write.<p>

"Fine." Kurt sat facing her, his face back to that blank look. He hated therapy.

"Have you been doing what we discussed in our last session together?" Dr. Baumer didn't miss that Kurt was talking in a higher register, what she was told was his normal.

"I suppose. I went to watch New Direction and the Warblers compete at sectionals."

"How did that make you feel? Watching them sing without you."

"It was fun to watch. They tied, so I get to watch them at Regionals too."

"Do you want to join them?"

"No, I don't want to sing." Kurt looked away from her then and kept his gaze at the floor, "I had a panic attack on Saturday. It was weird instead of freaking out my friends took me to someone's house and we spent the night watching movies and talking."

Dr. Baumer smiled softly at Kurt though he couldn't see it, "I see and these friends of yours have you talked to them about what happened to you?"

"Kinda, I guess. I told them I was bullied, and…that I was stabbed. They know where my cast came from. There's another boy, Blaine, who's gay there. He's really popular, I don't really understand it. Nikel told me he was bullied at his old school too."

"Maybe it's because people accept him there and they'll accept you too."

Kurt shook his head and changed the subject. They spoke about the classes he was taking and all the different kids in his new school. They discussed how he thought he was adjusting.

"Okay, Kurt, before you leave I have another assignment for you. I want you to sing a song. It can be just a little jingle and you don't even need to have an audience, as long as you can hear yourself. I'm pleased to say I'm seeing a great deal of progress this last week and I hope this can continue."

Kurt left her office and with his dad headed out towards the doctor's office to finally get the cast removed. Kurt sat uncomfortable as the doctor did a full examination.

"Well, Kurt, the bruising is mostly gone, your ribs have healed nicely -I'd stay away from strenuous exercise for a while long- and you stitches are finally out. We just need to get you out of this cast and into some physical therapy and you'll be right as rain."

God, his doctor was weird. He's had this doctor for years though and wouldn't change the eccentric old man for anything. Still…right as rain?

* * *

><p>It wasn't until they were in the car heading back towards the school that the two men spoke. Kurt was sitting in the passenger seat looking out the window when his phone buzzed. He glanced down at it to see a text.<p>

'**When are you getting back to school?'**

Kurt smiled faintly before answering, **'heading there now. Right before lunch.'**

He barely sent the text before another arrived, **'meet you at the door.'**

That time he did smile. Obviously, Blaine had his phone out waiting for his answer, **'get back to class.'**

"It's good to see you smiling, Kurt." His head snapped up to see Burt looking at him before the light turned green and he continued driving, "You had me really worried."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault what those…what happened to you." Burt gripped the steering wheel tightly, "If you ever want to talk about it-"

"I don't remember any of it."

"Bullshit!" Kurt jumped in his seat but his dad continued talking, "I know you do, Kurt. I can see it in your eyes when something reminds you about…what happened. I can't help you if you don't tell me. If you don't tell anyone for that matter."

"I was stabbed, Dad, is that what you want to hear? You already knew that, what good does talking do?"

"If it stops you from bottling it up and letting it eat you alive then everything."

Kurt closed his eyes, "I can't." He whispered, his hands starting to shake.

"Okay, you don't have to talk about it to me." He pulled up to the school, "These boys at Dalton seem to be good for you, Kurt. You should, at least, talk to them. They really seem to care about you from what I heard when Rachel was over."

Kurt rolled his eyes. She was over yesterday to see Finn and wouldn't shut up about the Warblers and Kurt's interactions with them. Once she got started, it was impossible to stop her.

"Who's that?"

Kurt looked up and saw Blaine was true to his word. He was waiting for Kurt by the front doors. They stopped a few feet away.

"Blaine. A friend of mine."

"Is he gay?"

"Daaad." Kurt groaned, opening the door to get out, "Yeah he is."

Before Burt could make any more embarrassing comments, Kurt slammed the door and headed towards Blaine, "I didn't think you actually meant you'd meet me at the front doors."

"Of course, I missed you. We all missed you. Nikel almost grabbed some duct tape in order to shut Zach up. He hasn't stopped whining about his missing roommate all morning. Fair warning, when he sees you I'm not sure what he's going to do but be prepared for anything."

They entered the school and started walking towards the cafeteria, "I'm hiding behind you."

Blaine frowned noticing Kurt's voice went low again, "Kurt, you don't have to hide here. You can talk normal, nobody will judge you."

"My voice is weird."

"It's unique, amazing."

Kurt bit his lip but didn't say anything more. They walked into the lunchroom and sat down at their usual table. Christof glared at Kurt before getting up and leaving the cafeteria. Thad looked conflicted but stayed.

"Kurt! You're back! I missed you so much, I didn't know what to do so I went to Nikel's room and he wouldn't amuse me so I had to leave. So then I went to Blaine's room and he threw me out so I was going to visit Sammy's room only to realize that it was also Blaine's room and he already threw me out. So then I was alone. You should feel bad for me." Zach whipped all that out in about ten seconds, not bothering to breathe.

"…I do?" Kurt replied, confused. Everybody laughed at the two. Zach just smiled brightly.

"So what did you think of our awesome performance, Kurt?" Wes asked, changing the subject.

"You guys sounded amazing. You'll need something mind blowing to beat New Directions at Regionals, though. They only get better when under pressure, trust me."

The boys all blinked at Kurt and Blaine grinned widely. Kurt sounded so confused when he first spoke to Zach they didn't notice.

"Dude, Kurt, what's with your voice?" David asked, shocked.

Kurt flinched and quietly spoke, "It's my natural tone; I hate it."

"It's frickin' sweet," Jonathon spoke up. Kurt smiled tentatively at him, "It's like a girl's voice only like more awesome…that came out wrong…"

"Thanks, I guess." Kurt's hands were shaking under the table. Blaine slide his hand down and gently put it on Kurt's lower arm, squeezing lightly as if to reassure him he was there.

"Zach tells me you were part of New Directions, you must be a pretty good singer; I mean, they sounded great at Sectionals."

"Not really, I was mostly background." He shifted uncomfortable. He knew Nikel was just trying to save them from the awkwardness that could be Jonathon, but created a completely different form of awkward for Kurt.

"You should sing with us sometime." Nikel replied.

"When he says us, he means when he actually feels like joining in on one of my impromptu performances. Nikel has a decent voice but rugby and soccer keep him too busy to join the Warblers." Zach explained.

"Plus the fact I'm an R.A and babysitting the insane keeps me up late at night as it is."

Zach smiled charmingly and batted his eyes, "But Nikel, you know you love us."

Nikel scoffed and pushed Zach off his chair, "Like I said before Zach, like a germ-a-phobe likes a city bus."

The banter continued on until the warning bell rang alerting the boys it was time to go back to class. As they filed out to go to their next session, Kurt lightly grabbed Blaine's arm, "Where's Sammy?"

Blaine shrugged, looking uneasy, "He had a rough morning, so he's not attending class today."

"Oh, okay, see you later."

* * *

><p>Blaine, Zach, Wes and David had Warbler practice after school so Kurt made his way to the dorms alone. Nikel had a meeting with Damien who was Maxstoke's R.A and wouldn't be back for a while. The dorms were unusually quiet as Kurt made his way towards his room. The sound of bottles clanking caught his attention and against his better judgment he went past his room and down the hall where there was an open door.<p>

Kurt carefully poked his head in to the faintly lite room to see Sammy lying on the floor in the middle a bottle of beer in his hand, more littered the floor. How he snuck that into Dalton wasn't really Kurt's concern at the moment.

"Sammy?" His voice ran out in the silent room.

Sammy sat up so fast, Kurt took a step back. He glared at Kurt, a look of pure anger that took his breath away.

"What the fuck do you want?" Sammy growled, taking a swig of beer.

Trying to calm the feeling of another panic attack Kurt entered the room and walked towards Sammy, slowly, "Are you okay?"

He let out a humorless laugh and launched himself to his feet. He swayed unsteady as he made his way to the other side of the room.

"Do I fucking look okay, Kurt, huh?" He spat, "Do I look like I'm in a fan-fucking-tastic mood? Stop staring at me! What have nothing to say?"

"_What's wrong, Fancy? The pretty bird can't speak?"_

"What's wrong?" He wanted to flee, but Sammy…was his friend.

"What's wrong? You're fucking shitting me, right? What's wrong! My brother is dead. This was our room, yeah, lovely huh. He died right over there. Lovely thing to walk into, by the way, your brother hanging from the fucking ceiling. Then he leaves me this note, this god-forsaken note, telling me not to blame myself. I don't blame myself, I BLAME HIM!" He held up his other hand that had a crumbled envelope in it, "I hate him! He knew I'd find him like that. Who else would? I hate him."

"You can't mean that."

"I do. The little prick. He took the easy way out. He didn't try to talk to me or Zach or Nikel or fuck, even that stupid prick of boyfriend, Gabriel. He was my best friend and I looked up to him. He failed me. I hate him! I went from being Nathan's little brother at this school to the boy whose brother killed himself at Dalton. Everybody knows!

"Home's even better. My fucking parents refuse to acknowledge that he's not coming back. That he killed _himself!_ He did this and left me to deal with it!" He threw his bottle at the wall. It didn't shatter like it showed in all the movies, just made a huge thumping noise. Sammy collapsed onto the ground, his head bowed, "I hate him! I'm glad he's dead, he was coward! A big fucking mistake!"

"_You're a mistake, a taint against nature."_

Tears streamed down Kurt's face as he whimpered. It's just Sammy, he told himself, not the jocks. Sammy won't hurt him. Carefully, not to startle Sammy he pulled out his phone and opened up a new message.

'**Something's wrong with Sammy. He's in I think his old room just screaming.'**

It took longer than he had hoped for Blaine to answer back, all the while, Sammy sat there, not exactly crying but letting out this painful sounding sobs. What he didn't know was that Blaine saw his message but had to make a phone before answering.

'**Be there soon.'**

By the time Blaine got there, Sammy was up and throwing things around in the room. Kurt was shaking so hard he thought he was going to pass out. This was the first time he ever truly felt threatened at Dalton.

"Shh…" Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt, trying to calm him down.

"I'm fine, but Sammy-"

"Needs Allina. She's the only one who can calm him down." Blaine responded, "I called her."

Just then a tall girl walked in with long curly blonde hair and the clearest blue eyes. She was dressed in a Crawford day outfit and immediately went over to Sammy talking quietly to him.

"Girls aren't allowed in the dorms." Kurt muttered, as Blaine slowly led him out of the room.

"Yeah, Allina's kind of the exception. We have to sneak her in, but she's the only one who can reach Sammy when he's in a mood."

They were quiet until they reached Kurt's dorm and together went inside. Kurt collapsed onto his bed, face down.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. The pressure sometimes gets too much for him."

"I guess we all have our demons." He sat up, "Sammy asked me once how I handled my demons. He said he drinks them away. I told him I run."

"I run too." Kurt looked at Blaine who sat down on the bed next to him.

"Nikel said you were bullied, like me and I know you said you transferred here because of bullying."

Blaine sighed, "Not like you. I was pretty much ignored at my old school, well besides the homophobic slurs that were thrown at me daily. At least that how it was until the Sadie Hawkins dance. I went with another boy, a friend of mine, who was also out. We just went as friends to have fun. Some guys found us while we were waiting to be picked up afterwards. They beat the shit out of my friend and me. They ran off when his dad drove up and we were taken the hospital. I was released two days later and my parents transferred me here." He shrugged, looking at Kurt, "I was lucky."

Blaine almost jumped when Kurt spoke. He didn't expect him to respond.

"There was this one bully at my school." Kurt started looking straight ahead, "he made it his mission to make my life hell. Nobody even noticed. I was pushed into lockers, thrown into dumpsters, verbally assaulted; I had slushies' thrown in my face. Nobody did a thing and I got sick of it. I followed my main tormentor into the locker room one day and started yelling at him. Telling him he couldn't beat the gay out of me." Kurt closed his eyes, managing to keep his voice even and emotionless.

"I thought he was going to punch me, but he kissed me. Then he threatened to kill me and a few weeks later he almost succeeded. Brittany and Santana found me bleeding out in a hallway at school and called 911. They had to revive me on the way to the hospital apparently I died for a moment. I told everyone I couldn't remember what happened. He almost succeeded in killing me once and if he found out I told on him I know he would've tried again."

_Azimio removed his foot and Karofsky hoisted him up by his shoulders and pinned him against a locker, his head bouncing off it roughly exploding with pain, "If you tell anyone, I will kill you." He increased the pressure on his shoulder with one hand and using his body so the others couldn't see what he was doing he dragged his other hand down to cup the boy, "Next time I'll get what I really want. Take this a preview…on both accounts."_

By the end of the story they were both crying, Kurt shaking from the memories. Blaine carefully reached out to Kurt and wrapped him in a hug. He was rigid for a moment before crumbling into the hug, holding onto Blaine like his life depended on it.

"You should tell someone." He whispered, "He could go to jail."

Kurt snorted, "Nobody cares what happens to someone who's gay. They'd be no better than my teachers."

"I'm sorry, Kurt, so sorry." Blaine pulled away from Kurt slowly and looked into his eyes, "Nobody will hurt you here, do you understand that? They honestly don't care if you're gay."

Kurt bit his lip, unsure if he should believe him. He wanted to, so badly, but a part of his mind was telling him he was setting himself up for a huge fall. One that could end him. Part of him knew it was just the depression talking -the post-traumatic stress- but it was so convincing. He needed to think, sort himself out.

"I'm going to go shower." He said abruptly, getting up. Blaine watched him confused as Kurt headed towards the bathroom.

"Is it alright if I stay? We'll go to dinner when you're done."

Kurt looked at the eager look on Blaine's and couldn't say no, "Fine."

Blaine watched Kurt disappear into the bathroom before pulling out his phone. He was glad Santana gave him her number that night when she dropped of Zach at Sammy's. He didn't tell Kurt he had it though. He opened up the text message she sent him.

'**Rachel was blabbering today & I thought u should have this pic its from a month or two before the incident.'**

Blaine opened up the attachment and stared at the picture she sent him. Kurt's hair was styled immaculately and he was wearing white on top including a tie and black pants, Santana standing next to him her arm on his shoulder in similar colors. The caption underneath said it was taken while performing 'One of us.'

Kurt looked gorgeous if not a little sad. How long was he depressed and nobody noticed at his old school?

* * *

><p>Similar questions filled Blaine's head until Kurt finally came out of the bathroom. Re-dressed in his Dalton uniform, his hair laid limp in front of his face. He stopped in front of Blaine and raised an eyebrow.<p>

"Are you ready to go?"

"Why don't you ever style your hair like this anymore?" Blaine asked instead, holding his phone out for Kurt to see the picture.

"Where did you get that?" He snapped, turning away from Blaine.

Blaine got off the bed and moved around to stand in front of Kurt, he reached out and slowly lifted Kurt's chin to look at him, "Don't be mad at me. You looked really cute in this picture. Nobody will judge you for your hair."

Kurt blushed when Blaine called him cute. He pulled away from the other boy and looked in the mirror Zach had on the back of their door. "It's not me anymore."

"Why? Because some stupid kids told you being yourself was wrong? Don't you see, Kurt, you're proving them right. You're changing yourself to please them and letting them win."

Kurt froze. It was, wasn't it? He didn't want to draw attention to himself because he was too scared. He sighed, "Fine." Before Blaine could cheer he continued, "If you want me to style my hair you have to wash the gel out of yours."

Kurt watched Blaine sputter for a few seconds before he sighed, "Deal."

"I feel awkward."

"You look fine."

"Can we go back? I can't do this."

Kurt sighed, never did he think he would be reassuring Blaine. He looked at Blaine's curly hair and smiled. It looked really cute on him. Too bad he didn't see it that way.

"I've never had my hair like this at Dalton, at least outside my room."

Kurt groaned, "Really Blaine. If I had to style my hair then you can at least join me in this awkwardness and un-style yours." They were just outside the cafeteria at that point.

"Blaine!" Nikel's voice interrupted whatever he was going to say, "I need you to come here for a minute- Nice hair."

"Shut up."

"Seriously though, you're the junior R.A. Damien and Brenden need our audience for a moment. Sorry, Kurt."

"No big deal. I'll wait here for you."

Blaine smiled at him before following Nikel around the corner.

"And here I thought your little guard dogs would never leave you alone."

Kurt spun around to find Gabriel leaning against a pillar not too far from him.

"What do you want?"

"For you to leave this school. We don't need homophobes around here; there have been enough problems over the years." He moved towards Kurt, forcing him up against a wall.

"You mean Nathan's suicide."

"Watch your mouth!" He smashed his fist in the wall above Kurt's head, "You don't deserve to say his name. He was a beautiful soul who was lost because of stupid ignorant people. Nice hair by the way, your way to show you're suddenly 'okay' with gay people. And what is wrong with your voice?"

"I'm not pretending to be okay with anything. I am gay. Not all of us come to this school because we're rich, stuck up pricks who think they know everything. Some of us have to come here because of the thought of a no-bullying policy that's actually enforced."

Gabriel actually took a step back from him, apparently shocked. Kurt took the opportunity to push past the boy.

"I'm sorry you lost your boyfriend, Gabriel, but pull the stick out of your ass already."

Huffing, Gabriel stomped away obviously he didn't expect Kurt to talk about…or come out. He let a small smile grace his face, he couldn't believe he just stood up the Gabriel. It felt good.

"Will you date me?" Kurt looked to see Zach approaching him with wide eyes and a big grin.

"I don't know I'm not sure I can compete with your current infatuation."

"That's true." Zach nodded.

"What are you two talking about?" Kurt and Zach's eyes both went wide as they turned to see Nikel and Blaine behind them. Oh shit.

Zach just grinned and stepped closer to Nikel but Kurt could see the strain in his smile, "Nice shoes, wanna fuck?"

"Is that your go-to line whenever you can't think of something to say?" Nikel asked, rolling his eyes.

"I didn't hear a no." Zach teased, as they headed into the cafeteria to finally get some dinner.

"You didn't hear a yes either." Nikel replied just as quick.

Kurt looked at Blaine who just shook his head in return. It was easier to stay out of it. At least it was until Zach wrapped an arm around Kurt's shoulder, drawing him close.

"Kurt you love me right? I'm better than stick in the mud Nikel and boring Blaine."

Blaine growled at blonde.

"Why do you hang out with stick in the mud Nikel and boring Blaine then hm?" Kurt asked in return, with a raised eyebrow.

Kurt didn't even realize that Blaine had pulled out his phone and took a picture of Kurt and Zach both smiling.

He quickly sent the picture to Santana with the caption, '**what do you think?'**

* * *

><p>This wasn't where I planned to end this chapter but I felt it fit and if I continued writing this chapter to where I planned on ending it, it wouldn't have flowed as nicely. So I'm ending it here. I hope everyone liked it! You will be seeing more of Allina, this was a short introduction to her.<p>

So here's a list of my OC's just to make you wonder (No Nathan doesn't count, he was written as dead from the beginning). It's in alphabetical order:

Allina

Christof

Gabriel

Jamie

Jonathon (He's mostly in deleted scenes right now…)

Loretta

Nikel

Sammy

Zach

Preview of next chapter:

"we need to stop fighting."

"We will. When you learn to leave my man alone."

"I do! He's my best friend, you stupid bitch. I hang out with him, I play video games with him-"

"And you fucking pant over him. You have a crush on him but he's mine, and you need to back the fuck off."


	10. Of eavesdropping and jealousy

Once again thank you for all the wonderful reviews! They really do mean a lot to me, and since I'm almost done with school, I've had a bit more time to write and this chapter just came flying out.

MusicalEscape: Chapter 11 yay :). Slow road to recovery for sure but sadly all good things have some setbacks.

perchance to wake: I'm not sure how she got so evil, she really wasn't supposed to be this bad. Though eventually her own past will be explained giving some reason for her…attachment problems.

wolf of infinity: I loved your review because as I read it I'm thinking it's me! I thought Glee was just some singing show until I was surfing on Youtube and ended up listening to Its my life/Confessions and was surprised I liked it. Then I saw a clip of Kurt singing Roses Turn and Burt's reaction afterwards. I ended up watching all of Season 1 and the beginning of season 2 that I had missed in a few short days. Kurt is completely the reason I started watching Glee. I'm glad you like the OC's I know it's not some peoples thing but I'm quite attached to Zach and Nikel and I'm glad other people like them as well. This chapter may break your heart just a bit more then ;).

I'm going to apologize now, while there's story progression this chapter is kind of a filler to set up necessary pieces for the next couple of chapters. This chapter is not Beta'd, I will apologize for that now as well. My beta's on strike. Her demands are a cookie that I refuse to give her. So, anyways, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or 'Teardrops on my guitar' by Taylor Swift. I just own OC's.

* * *

><p>Kurt groaned, rolling over in his bed to see Zach looming over him, jumping on the balls of his feet, smiling.<p>

"Come on Kurt, up, up! Take your pills and shower we have to go…oh and put clothes on, you probably should do that. Oh! And brush your teeth, and comb your hair…ugh this is going to take forever!"

"What are you talking about?" He mumbled, moving to pull the covers back over his head.

"It's hump day aka Wednesday and because neither of us have anyone to hump we're getting up early and-"

"If you say hump each other I'm never talking to you again." Kurt was not happy, even more so when he saw it was barely 5:30. He had just started sleeping through the night without the help of sleeping pills and here was Zach waking him up.

"Fine, now get ready!"

Kurt never got ready so fast in his life but Zach's constant nagging was getting annoying and he just wanted this over with. The only time Zach had been quiet was while Kurt was in the shower, but Kurt assumed he just couldn't hear him over the water.

"Ready, where are we going?"

Zach just smiled and went to the door when there was a knock just seconds later, "Perfect timing, everyone."

He opened it to reveal Blaine, Sammy, and Nikel. Oh, so he left to wake them up while he was showering.

"See this is why I don't sleep at this school often." Sammy said stifling a yawn.

"Oh stop whining! Let's go, let's go!" He practically ran out the door. The others looked at each other as they heard him yell, "David! Wes! Good everyone's here."

"He's going to wake the whole floor with his yelling." Blaine announced looking at Nikel.

"No shit and who do you think they'll bitch to?" Nikel replied, rubbing his forehead, "Come on let's get out of here before he succeeds in waking the whole damn building."

"Do you know where we're going?" Kurt asked Blaine quietly, as Nikel moved ahead to grab Zach by the back of his hood and pulled him along to get out of the dorms faster.

"It's a Wednesday, so probably to get coffee. At least once a month, on a Wednesday, Zach wakes everyone up to get coffee claiming we need it for 'Hump Day'. I forgot you didn't go with us last month."

They reached the parking lot and Zach started jumping around, excited, "I call driving!"

"NO!" Five voices yelled back startling Kurt.

"Don't ever ride with Zach." Nikel told him, "Actually don't ever let him drive."

"Why?" He chuckled at the pout Zach was sporting.

"He's a terrible driver; he had three accidents his first year driving." Nikel responded, "Trust me, I was in the car for one of them. I found the imaginary brake better than Zach could find the real one."

"Hey! Two weren't my fault. Old people can't drive." Zach grumbled, trying to defend himself. He wasn't that bad of a driver, other people just didn't know how to get out of the way.

"True…but seriously what the fuck?" Sammy jumped in, "Three accidents? I've had one in the three years I've been driving."

"You only got your license last year…"

"I didn't say legally driving now did I?"

"I'm driving," Nikel stated, unlocking his vehicle. He wasn't going to listen to them argue all day.

"We won't all fit." Blaine pointed out, "I'll drive separate. Kurt, do you want to come with me?"

Kurt nodded, following Blaine to his vehicle.

Nikel moved and put his hand over Zach's mouth before he could wolf whistle at them or something equally as embarrassing. Sammy rolled his eyes, getting in the back with Wes and David.

"Ew, Zach did you just lick my hand?" Nikel snapped, pulling his hand away.

"I shall not be silenced!" Was the reply he received as Zach got into the passenger seat. Wiping his hand on his pants he moved to drive.

* * *

><p>"Oh who invited the girls?" Zach asked once they arrived at the coffee house. Both girls were in their Crawford Day uniforms.<p>

"Hey Loretta, Allina." Nikel greeted, ignoring Zach's annoyed mutters.

"Sammy, how are you feeling?" Allina immediately went to Sammy's side as they entered the building fussing over him.

They pushed some tables together and the group sat down all with coffees in front of them.

"Hey Allina, do you think the Crawford Glee club could come to Dalton next week. We have some songs we want to run past you." Wes asked the beautiful girl next to Sammy, who was still fussing over her boyfriend.

"We should be able to."

"Oh Kurt, you weren't properly introduced. This is Allina, Sammy's girlfriend." Blaine explained.

Kurt smiled at her and jumped when she let out a squeal, "Oh my god, I recognize you! You were on McKinley's cheerleading team. You guys totally beat us at Nationals."

"You were a cheerleader?" Zach shouted, causing some other occupants to turn and look at him.

Kurt blushed, looking at the table, "For a little bit. I didn't like it much."

"Their team is amazing! The Cheerios are the hardest team to beat. I heard their coach works them so hard that they actually have members who die."

"She was never convicted." Kurt added, seeing their stunned expressions.

"Are we really going to talking about cheerleading the whole time?" Loretta interrupted with a bored tone.

"Let's talk about how bitchy Loretta is. That sounds like a lengthy topic with lots of insight and examples." Zach snapped back at her from across the table. She flipped him off.

"Better not, she'd be too pleased to be in the center of attention."

"Not you too, Allina." Nikel groaned.

"Sorry, Nikel."

"It's okay, Allina," Zach smirked, "Your mama just taught you not to lie."

"If you guys don't stop it I won't speak to either of you ever again." Both immediately shut up after that.

While they moved back to safer topics Kurt couldn't help but watch Zach and Loretta. While Zach ignored her and went back to talking to Nikel, Wes and David, she remained glaring at him. She spent the whole coffee session watching Zach like she was waiting for him to make a move on Nikel. Kurt raised an eyebrow, Zach was right, she was a bitch.

After the coffee fiasco the boys headed back to Dalton and split up to go to their separate classes. Nikel and Zach walked down the hall towards their English class. Zach was hopping around from one side of Nikel to the other, quoting random movies.

"I'm on one side; I'm on the other side. I'm on the east bank; I'm on the west bank. It's not that critical."

"Zach if you don't stop I'm never letting you have coffee again."

"Pssh like you can stop me."

Nikel raised an eyebrow, keeping the rest of his face emotionless, "Watch me."

"So obviously you're not going to blindfold me for this."

"I'm not even going to touch that one." He grumbled before snapping his fingers, "Oh I wanted to ask you-"

"Wait, he said what?" Both boys stopped talking and glanced at each other. That sounded a lot like Jamie. Smirking at the idea of getting some dirt on the boy, Zach took off and froze right by the corner Jamie was on the other side of. Sparing a quick glance, he saw he was talking to Gabriel. That wasn't surprising at all. Nikel stopped next to Zach, curious as well. They had missed what Gabriel said in reply.

"So what? He told you off now you're crushing on him?" Jamie asked. He raised an eyebrow at the look he was given in return, "Oh shit."

"Oh shut up, he just intrigues me is all," Gabriel replied, standing in the middle of an empty hallway, staring back at his best friend.

The other boy groaned, "Just like Nathan. Of course, you didn't even know Nathan existed until he screamed at you...you're an idiot you know that right?"

"Did I ask for your opinion?"

"Nope, I give it free of charge."

"You sound like your cousin."

"I do not sound like that." Nikel grumbled before Zach shushed him.

"Whatever, I'm just saying. What happened to the fact he's here on scholarship meaning he's obviously poor not to be able to afford this place."

Gabriel shrugged, "He's pretty; I believe that makes up for that."

"Always going for the pretty boys," Jamie muttered, "Fine I'll stay out the way and I'll even be –I can't believe I'm saying this- _nice_ to him. Man, that leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

Nikel and Zach pulled away then in order to make it to class on time. They shared a glance as they took their seats. This was going to be trouble. The real question was should they warn Kurt…or Blaine? You'd have to be blind not to notice how Blaine acted around Kurt or even how Kurt was starting to act around Blaine.

They were the first ones to leave the class as soon as the bell rang.

"So do we say anything?" Zach asked, surprisingly serious.

Nikel sighed, "No, not yet. We'll see if Gabriel actually tries something first. We didn't interfere with Nathan and well…we all know how that ended."

"True." He nodded, "Hey, what were you going to ask me?"

They stopped outside Nikel's class; Zach's being just a few doors down.

"Oh yeah," A big smiled crossed Nikel's face making Zach smile as well, "Will you go shopping with me after school tomorrow?"

"Shopping? For what?" He smile turned teasing, "My birthday was last month, remember."

It took all Zach had to keep the smile frozen on his face as Nikel explained why he needed to go, "Sure. I'll help you."

"Thanks, see you at lunch."

He waited until Nikel entered his class before the smile dropped from his face. What did he agree to? He walked past his class and headed towards the dorm rooms. He suddenly didn't feel so well.

When Zach didn't show up at lunch Kurt became worried. It was eerily like Sammy just two days earlier. Telling the rest to stay and eat he headed to the dorms with a plate of food for both him and Zach, hoping he'd find him there.

He entered their room to find Zach facing away from him, his guitar in his hand. He quietly closed the door, listening to Zach's unique singing voice.

**"He says he's so in love  
>He's finally got it right<br>I wonder if he knows  
>He's all I think about at night<strong>

**"He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar**  
><strong>The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star<strong>  
><strong>He's the song in the car I keep singing<strong>  
><strong>Don't know why I do<strong>

**"She better hold him tight**  
><strong>Give him all her love<strong>  
><strong>Look in those beautiful eyes<strong>  
><strong>And know she's lucky 'cause<strong>

**"he's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar**  
><strong>The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart<strong>  
><strong>He's the song in the car I keep singing<strong>  
><strong>Don't know why I do<strong>

**"He's the time taken up but there's never enough**  
><strong>And he's all that I need to fall into<strong>  
><strong>Drew looks at me<strong>  
><strong>I fake a smile so he won't see"<strong>

Instead of putting the guitar down he kept holding onto it bowing his head down to look like he was hugging the instrument. A sniff caused Kurt to move.

"Zach."

He didn't move right away, but eventually turned to lean against his headboard to look at Kurt. Kurt moved forward and sat down next to him and handed him a plate of food.

"What's wrong, Zach?"

"He wants me to go shopping with him." Kurt knew instantly he was talking about Nikel.

"Are you sure he's not gay?" He asked, giving him a weird look.

Zach let out a humorless laugh, "Positive…he wants me to help get a promise ring for the bitchress, you know since I'm his best friend."

Kurt flinched, "Ouch, sorry."

Zach fiddled with his guitar a bit, "I saw it coming and yet it totally caught me off guard. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah Zach it does." He moved to sit next to Zach on the bed after grabbing the guitar and setting it against the wall, "Put in a movie, I hate silences. It makes me…remember."

"Class starts in 10 minutes. I'm not going so I could watch something but you, on the other hand, don't have time for a movie."

"I'm not going either. I'll just say I'm feeling ill. Trust me they'll believe me with all the medication I'm on."

"That's the first joke I've heard to say at your own expense like that."

"Just put something on…that's not gory."

Zach stuck out his tongue, "kill joy."

* * *

><p>A knock at the door jolted Kurt awake. He looked around to see he was still next to Zach on his bed and Zach remained unconscious. Apparently they both fell asleep watching the movie. Sighing he went to the door, only to find Nikel on the other side.<p>

"Nice hair, Kurt. Did I wake you up?"

Groaning, he put a hand in his hair and moved out of the way so Nikel could enter the room. Kurt watched as Nikel jumped onto Zach's bed and began poking him in the forehead.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up…by the way Blaine will be here in a few minutes. He was worried when you never came back down." He turned back to Zach, "Wake up-"

"I'm awake…stop poking me."

"That's what she said."

"Really? We're going with those jokes?"

"Sure. I have to cancel our Call of Duty match today, Loretta called and I need to go to her house and protect her from her stupid aunt again."

"That's fine; I'm going to hang out with Kurt anyways. He's cooler than you and he doesn't-"

"Don't say it. You promised never to bring it that up again." His phone beeped; he quickly pulled it out, "Damn it, Loretta's here already. Kurt will you distract her so I can get ready?"

"No." He moved to fix hair.

Nikel turned to Zach, his expression pleading, "Fine…I'll go distract the bitchress. You owe me…big!"

"Thank you!" He lurched forward, hugging him, "You're the absolute best. I'll be down in 15 minutes at most."

With that, he ran out of the room leaving the door open. Groaning, Zach got up.

"You are a masochistic."

"Shut up." He growled. After one last pained look he left to meet Loretta in the common's area.

Kurt moved to go to the bathroom to fix his hair when he saw his phone was blinking. Picking it up he saw he had 5 missed text messages.

'**Dude heard Burt talkin 2 school you didn't go to class are u ok?'**

'**Kurt? Answer me!'**

'**If you dont answer in 5 mins Im going there.'**

'**1 min left'**

'**Im on my way'**

Oh crap. He looked at the time of the text and knew Finn was already on his way. Well that would just be another stupid thing to deal with. He moved to the mirror to try to fix his bedhead.

"Why is your door open?" Kurt jumped, "And why weren't you in class?"

"Hey," Kurt greeted Blaine after a moment, satisfied he no longer had bed head, "I fell asleep so I missed class. Sorry, if I worried you."

"It's fine." They stood in an awkward silence unsure what else to say.

"Where's Zach?" Blaine finally settled on a safe topic.

"Distracting Loretta."

"Are you serious?"

Kurt just nodded.

"Want to go spy on them?" Blaine asked, a sly smile crossing his face, "It's bound to be entertaining."

"Why not?"

Walking side by side they headed towards an empty common's area. Zach and Loretta stood in the middle, glaring one another down.

"I bet your brain feels as good as new, seeing that you've never used it." Loretta snapped at Zach, an evil smirk on her face.

"I don't exactly hate you, but if you were on fire and I had water, I'd drink it."

"Shock me, say something intelligent."

Zach exhaled sharply, his shoulders slumped, "We need to stop fighting."

Loretta scoffed, "What? Give up?"

"I'm being serious, you…ugh!"

Loretta glared at him, "Fine! We will. When you learn to leave my man alone."

"I do!" Zach snarled back, "He's my best friend, you stupid bitch. I hang out with him, I play video games with him-"

"And you fucking pant over him. You have a crush on him, but he's mine, and you need to back the fuck off."

"I have never tried to come in between you two. You're a selfish, self-centered, scared little girl, but I've never tried to make Nikel leave you. I guess it just shows which one of us actually loves him."

"You can't have him!" She screamed, stomping her foot.

"He's not an object to be had!" A slap resonated through the room.

Blaine abandoned their hiding spot to grab Loretta before she could slap Zach again. Kurt's eyes were wide at the full blown psycho bitch that was Loretta.

"What the hell is going on?" Nikel stormed into the room. Blaine let go of Loretta and she approached her boyfriend, "Loretta are you okay?"

"I'm fine; I was just showing them a scene from the play Crawford is hoping to put on. Right, Zach?"

Zach snorted, "Fuck this shit." He pushed past them and headed back towards his room.

"Zach, where are you going?"

"Go out with your stupid bitch of a girlfriend. Blow me off again. Whatever. Fuck it, and fuck you, Nikel!" He disappeared from view then.

"You wish." Loretta snarled. Nikel turned to Loretta then. Seeing this, Blaine and Kurt looked at each other and slowly back out of the room, trying to get away from the awkward tension.

"So…Zach's gay?" Blaine finally said as they went to his dorm.

"Yep."

"And likes Nikel."

"Basically."

Blaine sat on his bed while Kurt stood closer to the door.

"You knew all this?"

"Well Zach is my roommate. We talk. How did you not notice?"

"I didn't even know he was gay to be honest."

Kurt just shrugged, looking around Blaine's room. He began to slowly move, looking at all the pictures and sheet music he had lying around. A soft knock at the door interrupted his snooping. Blaine opened it to find Zach standing there, looking very withdrawn. He moved out of the way and Zach all but ran to the bed and plopped down.

"Can I stay with you guys for a while?" There was a weird tone in Zach's voice and it took Kurt a moment to realize it was loneliness, something he never heard in the other boy's voice before.

They sat around and talked, trying to stay on safe topics. Eventually they got into an argument about the worth of musicals.

"Are you kidding me? West Side story was sooo boring!" Zach whined, lying upside down on the bed while Blaine and Kurt sat on the floor.

"It's a classic." Kurt replied.

"I'm guessing you're going to try to tell that Sound of Music was something amazing as well."

"You don't like Sound of Music? We can't talk anymore." Kurt looked completely offended.

Blaine sat back and just watched how animated Kurt became while arguing his favorite movies. Those eyes were alive with a passion he's never seen there before. He could almost see the boy that was probably there before the abuse. He wanted to see it more often. He looked beautiful.

"I see, tossed aside for a musical." He put his hand on his heart, "I'm hurt, so hurt."

"You two are ridiculous." Blaine said laughing.

Kurt pulled out his phone to see that Finn just text him, **'so im in the common area come down b4 i come find u.'**

"Crap." Kurt took off without another word leaving two very confused boys behind.

Kurt practically ran back into the commons room, he really didn't want Finn roaming the halls.

"What are you doing here!" He snapped, as soon as he saw the big buffoon.

"You wouldn't answer your phone I was freaking out, dude."

"So you drove two hours instead of just waiting for a reply."

Finn slung an arm around Kurt, "Of course, if you were in trouble you wouldn't have answered."

Like that was perfectly logical. Then again, in Finn's mind it was probably was a completely sane reaction. Especially with Kurt's track record of getting into trouble.

Blaine and Zach walked into the room at that time, stopping short when they saw the two.

"Who's that with Kurt?" Blaine asked, his voice sounding off.

"I don't know. What do I look like? The person who has a little book that has all Kurt's relations ticked in? Because I'm not, good sir."

"That doesn't make any sense." Blaine hissed, "He just put his arm around him. They seem really close."

"Good observation, Blaine, now tell me what noise a dog makes." He blinked to see Blaine walking away, "Where do you think you're going?"

"To see who he's talking to."

"Just admit you're jealous already, jeez." Zach muttered following the other boy.

Kurt looked up as they approached and shrugged off Finn's arm. He was confused by the serious almost glare-like look Blaine shot Finn.

"So Kurt, who's this?" Zach asked when he realized Blaine wasn't going to say anything. Really that boy could play the jealous card perfectly.

"Oh this is my step-brother, Finn. Finn these are two my friends, Zach and Blaine. His girlfriend was the one I was talking to at Sectionals."

Blaine relaxed and threw Finn a charming smile, "Pleasure to meet you."

"Uh, you too dude." He scratched the back of his head, "So since I'm here I kinda wanted to ask you something. Rachel says I shouldn't give your, uh, well I didn't understand exactly what she said so I'm just going to ask anyways. We're playing a game next week and New Direction is doing the half-time show. They really want you to come, they miss you. So, will you come?"

"I'll think about it Finn."

Finn shrugged, "Works for me. So, since I drove all the way out here and don't have to be back home for a while…what do you guys do for fun?"

Zach smirked and Kurt was almost happy to see Zach back to normal, if only it wasn't directed at him, "Do you play Xbox?"

* * *

><p>By the time Finn left it was almost 8. Kurt showed Blaine and Zach that he could play Call of Duty…surprisingly well actually. Zach decided to go back to his room, figuring Nikel would be coming back soon and wasn't ready to see him.<p>

Knowing he needed some time alone to figure out his own head, Kurt went back to Blaine's room to watch a movie. They both settled on Blaine's bed much like they did at Sammy's house. Kurt didn't even flinch when Blaine moved close enough that their whole side was touching one another. It just felt comfortable. Even though he knew Blaine was gay it still showed him how comfortable Blaine was with touching him. He didn't feel like a disease or a freak. He felt like Kurt.

'_No one pushes the Hummels around.' _His dads words rang in his ears.

"Hey, Blaine." Kurt said suddenly during a lull in the movie.

"Yeah."

"If I go to Finn's game will you come with me? I don't, I don't think I can go back to that place by myself."

Blaine reached out and gently took Kurt's hand, "Sure, Kurt. I'll go with you."

Kurt smiled at him briefly before turning back to the movie. Blaine didn't let go of his hand.

* * *

><p>I hope everyone liked the chapter. Sorry if it seems a little choppy as stated at the beginning this was kind of a filler chapter for what's to come. Each piece had a very specific purpose believe it or not.<p>

Coming up?

Kurt sings.

Zach and Nikel have a little chat that may or may not fix things between them.

Loretta's past and her creepy attachment to Nikel.

Gabriel apologizes for his behavior to Kurt.

Blaine realizes if he doesn't act he could lose Kurt.


	11. Shattered Part 1

Once again thank you for all the wonderful reviews! They really keep me going.

perchance to wake: Yes, that is exactly what Loretta thinks. She's a bitch, what can I say? And yes, Gabriel is very gracious, he's lowering himself. He's a very interesting character. I have a love/hate relation with those two people. I'm really mad at Loretta right now so she's been sentenced to the corner.

xsilvershadowx: Soon very soon. I'm getting impatient too

Cori-Ackles: I know right, I love Robin Hood Men in Tights and so does Zach. Actually he likes anything Mel Brooks. Nikel should love Zach, but Nikel, for now it seems, is straight. Sad face.

My-Facade: The cereal or the cheer squad? I kind of want the cereal.

aridnie: Yes I can. He gets lots of hugs right now. My poor baby.

MusicalEscape: You'd think since I ship them too they'd be together by now but…Nikel's straight, darn him. Maybe he'll turn hetro-flexible, who knows. Never really thought about it but I ship a lot of slash couples too…hmm…

wolf of infinity: Though her past is explained it really doesn't justify her actions which Zach will point out. We get bitchy Zach!

SeptemberLoveStory: Zach is my baby but I'm willing to share. Even though he's not happy with me right now over this chapter.

houseofnightfan1: Not really, I do want to clarify that. Gabriel doesn't like Kurt exactly. He just respects someone who stands up to him and is intrigued by him. He's not in love with Kurt or anything but he is a bit confused on his feelings. He's pushing the lingering feelings he feels for Nathan onto Kurt.

So this chapter is in two parts. I already have part 2 written and it should be out within a week. It just needs to go through editing. You will all want to kill me by the end of this chapter.

One little thing: Does anyone else find it ironic that New Direction was split up because they didn't want Sugar in their glee club so her father funded a new one for her. There was all this drama and she ended up in New Direction anyways? I just had to laugh.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, the song 'Daddy' by Jewel or 'I have a dream' by Abba from the musical Mamma Mia. I just own my OC's

* * *

><p>Shattered part 1:<p>

_But I'm good without ya  
>Yeah I'm good without you<br>Yeah, yeah, yeah  
>How many times can I break til I shatter?<em>

It was Monday and Kurt was sitting around the breakfast table looking around anxiously every couple of minutes. Nobody's seen Zach since Wednesday night, his parents calling the school saying he was out sick all of Thursday and Friday. Kurt had gone home for the weekend and when he arrived back Sunday night -since his usual Monday therapy session had been cancelled for the week- Zach wasn't there. He was really hoping the blond would be at school today. Kurt wasn't sure when he became so attached to the blond idiot but after how upset Zach was on Wednesday he really wanted to see him and make sure he was okay.

"I'm sure he'll be back today." Blaine whispered, from his seat next to Kurt. Kurt turned to him and nodded slightly, still tense. Blaine put his hand on Kurt's arm, "Hey, calm down. I'm sure everything's fine."

Both boys turned to look at Nikel who was on the other end of the table picking at his breakfast, not looking the least bit enthusiastic. Apparently Zach's been ignoring all his texts and phone calls. He's been ignoring everybody's actually but the fact he won't even answer Nikel startled everyone. Jonathon was cracking jokes he had died, since Zach never ignored his best friend. Those jokes were met with venomous glares from the dark haired R.A, who wasn't amused.

"No Zach again?" Jonathon asked, frowning, "Did he transfer?"

"Shut up Jonathon." Nikel snapped, pushing his food away.

"I'm just saying this is the third day he's missed, I feel we should look into other options rather than he's been sick for 5 days."

"Seriously, Jonathon, shut up before I use you for Rugby practice."

"Ruck him." Wes yelled out.

Nikel shook his head, "I don't think you know what that means."

Wes snorted, "Who do I look like, Zach? I don't listen to you for hours talking about Rugby and watching games with you."

Nikel went quiet after that. Zach did learn all he could about the sport just because he knew how much it meant to Nikel and watched to be able to talk about it with him. He also attended all his games. Just like he attended all of Zach's soccer games, it was something they did.

When breakfast ended without the hyper active boy showing up the group left to go to class with heavy hearts. Kurt waved good bye to Blaine before heading towards his first class.

"Hey wait up." A voice called out. Kurt stopped and hid a grimace when Gabriel approached him.

"What do you want?" He tried to put some venom in his voice but he was mostly scared. What if Gabriel decided to get some payback for what happened the last time they met?

He flinched when Gabriel raised his hand. The boy took a step back and put his hands up defensively, "Sorry I wasn't going to hit you or anything. I just wanted to apologize for my rude behavior since your arrival."

Kurt was not expecting that, "Come again?"

"Look I don't normally do apologies but my behavior towards you was extreme and I'm sorry. I'd like to make it up to you."

"I have to get to class." Kurt said the first thing that came into his head, hurrying away from the larger boy. Gabriel intense stare had started to make him uncomfortable. He didn't even want to know what Gabriel had planned to 'make it up to him' it was probably something humiliating. He didn't trust the stuck-up bastard.

The rest of Kurt's morning was spent between confusion over Gabriel's behavior and frustration over Zach not texting him back. By the time Blaine met up with him to head to lunch Kurt was ready to scream. He really wanted to tell Blaine about Gabriel's apparent apology, but decided he'd wait until after school. Less people eavesdropping on them and he didn't quite believe it happened either. He headed towards their usual table and actually broke out into a grin to see Zach sitting there.

"Good to see you grace us with your presence." Blaine teased, sitting on the other side of Kurt who took the seat right next to the blond.

"I was sick; didn't you hear?" He replied, picking at his food.

"So sick you couldn't answer your phone?"

"Whatever, I'm back now. Did I miss anything?" Kurt had never heard Zach sound so bitter before.

"Warbler practice is today because Crawford is coming to visit." Blaine said, Zach groaning at the meaning behind the statement. Loretta would be there.

"Where were you this morning?" Kurt asked, interrupting whatever Zach was going to say about practice.

Zach bit his lip, forgetting about practice for the moment, "I didn't want to go to first period." He stopped before he said 'because Nikel would be there.'

"Oh." Was the only reply they could come up with.

Sammy sat down then. He looked at Zach, gave him a slight nod and started eating. The best quality of Sammy was he didn't really pry.

"Where the hell have you been, Z?" Nikel snapped sitting down as well.

Zach gave him a blank stare, "I've been sick. Seriously, did nobody get the memo?"

"We need to talk about what happened Wednesday."

"I don't think there's anything left to say. I summed it up quite nice then. Fuck your little bitch of a girlfriend and fuck your friendship. I don't need either train wreck."

"What the hell, Zach, what is your problem? You've been acting like a psycho for a while now. Just tell me. Grow a pair already."

"It doesn't matter!"

"Obviously it does."

Zach slammed both of his hands down on the table causing the rest of the occupants to jump, "I don't need this shit right now." He stood up to leave.

"We need to talk after school, Zach."

Zach glared at Nikel, "I have Warbler practice." He replied stubbornly.

"After practice then," Nikel was not going to let this go.

"Loretta will be here with Crawford, are you sure I'm worthy of your time?"

"Zach…"

Zach stormed out of the cafeteria without second glance. Kurt jumped up after him and ran to catch up, Blaine behind him. Nikel stayed at the table, watching his best friend walk away from him shocked.

"Now you fucked up." He shot a look at Sammy who just shrugged, before adding "I call them as I sees them." before returning to his lunch.

Groaning he slammed his head down on the table. Why was it so hard to talk to his best friend right now?

* * *

><p>Kurt chased after Zach the best he could but lost him down Daltons twisting hallways that all look the same. He finally stopped, Blaine catching up to him, breathing heavy.<p>

"How do you run so fast?"

Kurt wrapped an arm around his ribs that were throbbing. Even though they were healed up he wasn't supposed to be running quite yet, "Need to be fast to avoid bullies." That was out of his mouth before he really thought about it, "Sorry."

"Hey, it's just me, Blaine, no need to apologize for the truth." Kurt looked away from Blaine's sincere expression.

"Where did Zach go?" He didn't want to talk about his past again right now.

Blaine bit his lip, thinking, "Well…the Warbler hall is around here. Let's check there."

Together they entered the room the Warblers used for practice and meetings to find Zach sitting in one of the plush chairs in the corner, staring out the window. If he heard them come in he didn't show it. Blaine and Kurt looked at one another, not sure how to proceed.

Finally Blaine approached Zach not noticing Kurt went to the other side of the room. He smiled sadly at the piano, remember when he was younger his mother teaching him to play. He practically had to beg his father to let him continue his lessons after her death.

"Hey Zach," Blaine greeted, kneeling next to the chair Zach was sitting now. The boy didn't move to acknowledge him. He sighed, "You can't stay in here all day." Not even a blink.

Feeling hopeless, he turned to look at Kurt to see if he wanted to try. He found Kurt sitting at the piano, his fingers lightly brushing over the keys not making a sound. He looked completely lost in thought. Blaine watched, enthralled, as determination suddenly could be seen in Kurt's eyes. Fingers moving they began to press down on keys and music began to play. Zach shifted as well at the sound to watch.

"**I have a dream, a song to sing  
>To help me cope with anything<br>If you see the wonder of a fairy tale  
>You can take the future even if you fail<br>I believe in angels"**

His voice was wavering, obviously nervous. When he lifted his fingers he could see the faintest tremble in them. Still, he powered on. It was a song his mother always sang.

**"Something good in everything I see  
>I believe in angels<br>When I know the time is right for me  
>I'll cross the stream, I have a dream"<strong>

Blaine stood up and walked over to Kurt. The boy looked and Blaine joined him, their voices melding together.

**"I have a dream, a fantasy  
>To help me through reality<br>And my destination makes it worth the while  
>Pushing through the darkness still another mile<br>I believe in angels**

**"Something good in everything I see**  
><strong>I believe in angels<strong>  
><strong>When I know the time is right for me<strong>  
><strong>I'll cross the stream, I have a dream<strong>  
><strong>I'll cross the stream"<strong>

Blaine stopped singing letting Kurt finish the verse on his own.

"**I have a dream"**

"Your voice is amazing." Blaine breathed, smiling widely at the boy.

"I could say the same about yours." Kurt was still shaking. It had been quite a while since the last time he sung. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself.

"I can't sing like that." Kurt stiffened at Blaine's comment.

"_Next thing you know you'll be wearing tight pants, listening to musicals, and singing about your feelings in a girlie voice."_

"It's girlie." He mumbled, trying to shake the memory away.

"You're really good." The both looked over to see Zach approaching them, smiling softly, "A countertenor, I should've known with your voice. Thank you for singing for me, Kurt, it means a lot."

"I know it doesn't fix anything but…my mom use to sing that to me before she died." Kurt whispered, "I just thought…I don't know."

"It was great." Zach replied, before sighing, collapsing on the piano bench next to Kurt, "I'm being stupid, aren't I?"

Blaine sat down on the other side of Kurt, leaving the boy squished in the middle.

"You're not stupid Zach; you've just hit your breaking point. Can you get past this and have your best friend or is this the end for you two?"

Zach bowed his head at Kurt's words, "I thought I was fine being the best friend. He's known Loretta for a long time, longer than he's known me. I always known he wouldn't…feel the same, but I can't watch him get married to her. Buying her a promise ring, he might as well make it an engagement ring. I can't watch it, I just can't. I was listening to O.A.R on my way to school and all I could think of is how many times I can break 'til I shatter."

"It's your choice, you need to decide for yourself what you need; I just hope you don't regret it."

Kurt stood up and patted Zach's shoulder, "See you later Zach."

The boys left to go to their afternoon classes, leaving Zach in the choir room with his thoughts. They couldn't help him make this decision.

* * *

><p>Kurt was walking through the school to get to the dormitory after classes were out for the day. He just entered the main entrance to the school when he saw Loretta and the rest of the Crawford Glee club standing there. Allina trying unsuccessfully to get the groups attention back on her.<p>

"Troubles?" Wes asked, coming into the area. Blaine, Thad, and David were behind him.

Allina smiled, "You could say that."

"Welcome girls." They slowly calmed down, "Thank you for coming to Dalton. If you'll follow me, we'll get started."

Allina stared at him, "How do you do that?"

"I have to deal with Zach being in the Warblers enough said."

"And he has a gavel shoved up his ass."

"Shut it, David."

Blaine approached Kurt then and smiled, "Do you want to come and listen? We could use your feedback as well."

"Sure."

Grabbing Kurt's hand he ran to catch up with the group that already left for the Warbler hall. Running slightly behind him, Kurt blushed at the contact. They entered the room and Blaine pulled away to join the Warblers. Uncertain where to go, Kurt wandered over to the where the Crawford girls were and gratefully took a seat next to Allina when she motioned him to. Though he didn't really know her well, he knew Sammy and did not want to be anywhere near Loretta. Thinking of the girl, his eyes sought her out only to find her leaning against a wall, glaring at Zach. Apparently her date night with Nikel was all kinds of awkward thanks to the huge blow out he caused.

"Attention everyone," Wes called out for order, "Attent-Zach get off the piano…Attention everyone! There, quiet. I'd like to thank our sister school, Crawford Day's, glee club for coming to Dalton to listen to us sing and give us some feedback. As you know we'll be heading off to Regionals after the holiday season and we want to be prepared. We had tied with New Directions at Sectionals and I'm sure only one of us will walk away victors at Regionals. Without further ado, let's begin."

The Warblers ran through songs such as 'Bills, Bills, Bills', 'Misery', and 'Silly Love Songs'. Kurt was quiet throughout while the girls gave some ideas after each song. He observed them and made many mental notes. He couldn't help but notice that Blaine led every song; the same with at Sectionals he sang lead on 'Hey, Soul Sister'. While New Direction was usually led by Rachel and Finn, others had their verses to sing as well. The Warblers didn't really dance, they stood and shuffled. Their performance, while vocally was great, visually was rather boring.

It was getting close to dinner time when the girls left except Allina and Loretta who were heading back later, obviously wanting to see their boyfriends. After David, Thad and Wes saw the girls out they returned and all eyes focused on Kurt.

"So what did you think, Kurt? You were very quiet."

"Vocally you guys are amazing. You have a very powerful sound and our A Cappella is flawless."

"I hear a 'but' in there." Zach joked.

"Blaine, you have an amazing voice though relying on one voice for all solo's gets repetitive and expected. Also you don't do any dancing besides a slight shuffle back and forth across the stage. While your vocals are good they don't make up for the lack of visual appeal. You perform in your uniforms so you don't have any costumes to help you out. You guys need to move around, dance. You saw New Direction at Sectionals right? They were all over the stage and it kept peoples interest. It can get boring listening to a group on stage not doing anything, but stand there or walk back and forth."

"Wow, I've never heard you talk so much." David teased though he was writing everything Kurt said down much like he did with the girls. Kurt blushed at the comment.

"I have to agree with Kurt, dancing would really improve our chances."

"You just want to break dance, Zach and we can't subject people to that."

"Nobody asked you David."

"It's better than when he did that weird disco dance." Thad spoke up.

"Yeah that was horrifying."

"I thought I just got over those nightmares." Jonathon added.

Zach stuck out his tongue, "You guys suck! You totally don't understand or appreciate real dancing."

Kurt sat back and watched them argue. He stunned to find they took his ideas seriously. Well as seriously as one could with Zach in the room. He was, also, pleased to see Zach starting to act like his old self again. He listened as the boys brought up old embarrassing stories and bickered with each other. It was nothing like New Directions. There was no malice behind it, just gentle teasing between people who've known each other for a long time. It was so…different.

"Wes." Kurt's voice was barely above a whisper, but the boy heard and turned to the other.

"Anything else to add, Kurt?"

Kurt bit his lip. He was glad the other boys continued to talk and weren't paying attention to him, "Is it-is it too late to join the Warblers? I'd…like to try."

"Sure Kurt. I'll set up a meeting with the council if you'd like try out tomorrow. It isn't a practice day but that way you won't have to audition before the whole group."

"Thank you."

"Okay, you miscreants, practice is over. Go away now." David yelled out.

Blaine and Zach walked over to Kurt as the mass group of boys left.

"What were you talking to Wes about?"

"Just final thoughts." Kurt replied. He didn't want them to get worked up over him maybe joining.

The three left the practice hall and headed towards the dormitory.

"So are you planning on going to Finn's game tomorrow night?" Blaine asked as they walked.

"Yeah, I guess. You're coming right?"

Blaine smiled at Kurt, "Of course, wouldn't miss it."

Zach snorted and Kurt turned to him, "Do you want to come as well?"

"As awesome as that sounds, no. I don't like football, playing or watching. You two have fun though."

"Well Blaine it looks like it's just you and me. And my Dad and stepmom, of course."

Kurt didn't notice the way Blaine's smile became more strained with the realization that he would be meeting Kurt's parents, but Zach sure did and snickered. His laugh died when they reached the main entrance of the school to see Nikel, who was waiting with Loretta.

"Zach we need to talk."

Kurt and Blaine stood next to the blond not sure what he had decided in regards to his best friend. Zach sighed and to their surprise, nodded in agreement.

"Fine, but does Loretta have to stick around?"

"I'm his girlfriend you little-"

"Loretta." Nikel scolded before she could finish, "Please leave us alone. I really need to talk to Zach."

She huffed, "Fine, I'll be in the common's room at Warwick."

Blaine sighed, "We'll go with her."

Grabbing Kurt's hand without a second thought they followed Loretta who stomped away towards the dorms. They all entered the dormitory and Loretta immediately plopped down on the couch, arms crossed.

Blaine rolled his eyes but followed the girl, "You might as well get comfortable; they'll probably take a while."

"Whatever, I shouldn't have left Nikel with that stupid boyfriend stealer. He was supposed to listen to me sing my piece for acceptance week in glee."

Blaine rolled his eyes, "We can listen if you want to practice."

"Do you have a guitar?"

"Zach does." Kurt replied leaving to retrieve the item. When he returned she immediately grabbed it from him.

Kurt opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off, "I won't break Zach's precious guitar. It was a gift from him grandmother."

The boys stared at her surprised that she knew that. She ignored them though and began to strum the guitar. She moved with the beat, as if almost in a trance. They weren't sure what they were expecting with the idea of acceptance week but what was sung wasn't it.

"**My bones are tired, Daddy  
>I don't get enough sleep<br>I don't eat as good as I could, Daddy  
>What's that say about me?<strong>

**"Sometimes I sleep past noon, Daddy**  
><strong>Drink lots of black coffee<strong>  
><strong>Yes, I left the refrigerator door half open, Daddy.<strong>  
><strong>What's that say about me?<strong>

The look in Loretta's eyes was that of pure hatred, but she stayed steady with her guitar strumming. Her voice was eerie as it weaved in and out of verses.  
><strong><br>"Sometimes I want to rip out your throat, Daddy  
>For all those things you said that were mean.<br>Gonna make you just as vulnerable as I was, Daddy  
>What's that say about me?<strong>

**"You know, sometimes I want to bash in your teeth, Daddy.**  
><strong>Gonna use your tongue as a stamp<strong>  
><strong>I'm gonna rip your heart out the way you did mine, Daddy<strong>  
><strong>Go ahead and psycho-analyze that.<strong>

**"'Cause I'm your creation, I'm your love, Daddy.**  
><strong>Grew up to be and do all those sick things you said I'd do"<strong>

**"I'm sloppy, what's that say about you?**  
><strong>I'm messy, what's that say about you?<strong>  
><strong>My bones are tired, Daddy"<strong>

"What exactly does that have you do with acceptance?" Blaine asked first.

Loretta rolled her eyes, "Not acceptance like that, acceptance of something from your past. I accepted I had a deadbeat for a father. The best thing he ever did was get in that car accident."

Nikel needed to get back soon because this was getting really awkward and the two had no idea what to do.

While the boys were busy with Loretta, Nikel and Zach were trying to deal with each other.

The two friends stared at one another waiting for the other to start. It seemed neither wanted to make the first move.

Zach finally scoffed, "Are you going to talk or just waste my time? Dinner's starting soon and I'm kinda getting hungry."

"I know you and Loretta don't really get along but where the hell did all this come from? I've been dating Loretta for almost two years, Zach, and it's never been this bad between us. You're suddenly this completely other person and I don't understand."

"Saying we don't really get along is like saying the ocean is kinda big. We don't get along, at all. She's a stuck up bitch who takes you for granted. She only wants you to hang out with her and nobody else."

"You know her past, Zach."

"It doesn't excuse her! Her father being an ass doesn't excuse her to be the same."

"I believe beating your child is a little more than ass behavior, Zach. That's not it though. You guys were fine with each other the first couple of times we hung out. Then we all went to Jamie's for that stupid dinner his parents put on, after that you two were constantly at each other throats."

Zach didn't say anything. How could he forget that dinner? They were 16, Loretta 15; Nikel and Loretta had only been dating for a month, though they've known each other longer than that. It was the third time they were around each other and it was the last birthday party Nikel had been invited to for Jamie.

It was the usual: the parents were ignoring the children, Jamie was being a brat; Gabriel spent the whole time acting like Nathan was the only one in the room, Zach and Nikel argued about video games while Loretta laughed along. It was fine given the circumstances until Jamie made a comment about Zach acting like a love sick puppy around Nikel. Nikel, of course, ignored his cousin and laughed it off. Loretta, though, started paying attention and found some truth to Jamie's offhand comment. It all went downhill from there especially after she approached Zach on the subject and everything came falling out.

He wasn't about to say anything to Nikel about it though, "What can I say? Your girlfriend is a jealous little bitch who gets way too possessive. I don't know what you want from Nikel. You're my best friend and lately, you run every time she calls. I get it, she lives a drunken aunt who sometimes forgets she's not her mother, but she could dorm at Crawford. She chooses not to, she chooses to put herself in that situation so she can keep you on leash helping her out. You're just too good of a person to see that."

"What kind of a guy would I be if I don't accept her faults as well as her talents? I've known her since I was 11, and I'll never forget that scared little girl who was bruised and beaten. The look in her eyes from someone who has seen too much too young and barely survived a car accident her drunken father caused. I can't just walk away from her, Zach, I do love her, but I don't want to lose you either. You've become very important to me. You are my best friend, Z."

Zach closed his eyes, "Did you give Loretta that promise ring yet?"

"Not yet."

"But you're planning on it."

"I am."

Zach nodded, "You're making a mistake. She's going to make you miserable one day."

"That's not your decision."

Zach opened his eyes and stared at Nikel, "Fair enough. Do you promise not to constantly push me aside for her though? We're supposed to be friends but you're constantly bailing on me to do stupid shit with her."

"Deal."

They shared a brief smile and started back towards the dorms, Nikel bumped Zach's shoulder; "I missed you, you know."

Zach pushed back, "I missed you too."

"Dinner then Call of Duty marathon?"

"Well I have three days' worth of homework to catch up on but…I think I can hold off on it."

"Awesome. Z? There's something else you're not telling me isn't there?"

"Can we not talk about it right now? I think we had enough heart to hearts to last us for months."

"Fine, you'll tell me eventually."

"That's what everyone keeps saying."

They entered the dorms to see Blaine and Kurt on one couch, Loretta on the other completely silent.

"Why does the bitch have my guitar?"

"Zach…" Nikel sighed.

"Fine...why does the female dog have my guitar?"

"That's…better?"

"Chill out, Blondie, I was just playing a song for Blaine and Kurt. Nikel was supposed to listen to it, but since he was sorting out your issues, it didn't happen. I have to head back to Crawford Nikel." She stood up and approached him, "I'll see you soon."

"Sure, I'll call you tonight."

She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before heading out.

Zach was silent for a moment before he couldn't help it any longer, "You've had your rabies shot right Nikel?"

"Zach!"

"I couldn't help it."

He rolled his eyes, "You guys ready for dinner?"

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up. I need to put Zach's guitar away and call my dad. I have to tell him that Blaine and I are going to Finn's game tomorrow." Kurt picked up said guitar.

"We can wait for you." Blaine insisted.

"Don't worry about it. Just go, I'll be there soon."

Reluctantly the boys left and Kurt was able to get his necessary chores done. His dad sounded please that he was going to the game if not a little concerned. Kurt knew the risk of going back to that school even for a night. Not just the physical with the whole football team there but the mental. He felt, though, that he had to do this. He couldn't move on with this looming over him.

He was so deep in thought as he headed towards the cafeteria he didn't even notice Gabriel until he was right beside him.

"What do you want, Gabriel?"

"I told you I want to show you that I'm sorry." He replied.

"I'm not interested."

"Just hear me out," He grabbed Kurt's arm gently and stopped him; "I just want to get coffee. We can talk and you can get to know me better. We'll be in a public place; you can even drive yourself so you can get out if you want to."

"I'm not supposed to drive." He mumbled.

"Then you can either ride with me or get a ride from one of your friends. Either way, will you please get coffee with me tonight after dinner?"

He looked so earnest, Kurt sighed, "Fine, but only coffee. And I'm only going because it's my weakness."

"Thank you. I'll meet you at the front entrance in an hour if that's okay?"

"Sure." Gabriel smiled at him before walking away. Biting his lip, he headed into the cafeteria, more nervous than ever. The boys will not be happy to hear about this.

* * *

><p>Yep that's where it's ending. I'll be hiding behind...this Zach. You can't throw things at me, you'll hurt Zach!<p>

So here are a few previews of the next chapter just to keep people happy…or more angry with me…Enjoy, read at your own risk.

Number 1:

"So what else did you guys talk about?" There was that tone again. It almost sounded like jealousy but that couldn't it be it.

"Nathan."

Blaine stopped, "Really?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Gabriel doesn't talk about Nathan. I haven't heard him say a thing about what happened since I've been here."

Number 2:

Kurt stayed up for a long time after Zach went to sleep. He was nervous about tomorrow. He wasn't ready, how could he be? Maybe he should just bag it, but Blaine looked so excited to be going with him. Damn, he really liked Blaine; he didn't want to have another panic attack in front of him. Damn…he liked Blaine.

Number 3:

Blaine stood up and reached out his hand for Kurt to take, "No you're not. You're beautiful." He helped the other boy to his feet, "I'd like to be given the chance to show you how beautiful you are every day if you'll let me."

"Blaine?"


	12. Shattered Part 2

As always thank you for the wonderful reviews. I'll try to make this short.

wolf of infinity: I always liked the name Gabriel, I thought it was beautiful too though the person I gave the name to is anything but beautiful personality wise. Oh well.

MusicalEscape: Oh she totally uses her past as an excuse which probably will be address again in later chapters.

aridnie: I want to feel bad for Loretta, but I know her and she's so mean. Especially in chapters to come Bitch don't know when to quit.

houseofnightfan1: That's really tricky. Zach's the only one who doesn't want to tell Nikel, you'll find out more why later.

SeptemberLoveStory: My Zach shield worked! It's not bad; Gabriel isn't that bad of a person. He just comes off that way. He doesn't like Kurt though; he's just projecting his leftover feeling for Nathan onto Kurt.

To everyone else who reviewed, thank you!

Now without further ado, onto the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the song 'Hey Jude' by Beatles, just OC's.

* * *

><p>Shattered: Part 2<p>

_I had no idea that the night  
>Would take so damn long<br>Took it out, on the street  
>While the rain still falls<br>Push me back to you_

"Kurt!" Zach yelled out, as he enterd the lunch room after talking to Gabriel, "We grabbed you a plate already, come on you're really freaking late!"

"Sorry," He told the blonde sitting down, who was surprisingly not sitting next to Nikel. Apparently the two aren't going quite back to normal though depressed Zach seemed to have disappeared, "I got held up by Gabriel on the way here."

Nikel's eyes narrowed, "He didn't offend you did he?"

"No…he apologized to me actually and invited me out to coffee tonight to make it up to me."

The three boys stared at Kurt like he was insane. Blaine found his voice first, "You didn't say yes did you?"

"Actually I did. I think Gabriel deserves a chance to explain himself."

"Kurt, Gabriel's bad news…" Zach began tapping his fingers rapidly on the table.

"You admitted you use to hang out with him when he was dating Nathan."

"That was mostly for Nathan's sake. But you're right; we did hang out with him which is why you should believe us when we say Gabriel is bad news."

"It's just coffee guys, nothing else. You're making it sound like a date."

Nikel and Zach exchanged looks thinking back to what they heard in the hallway all those days ago. They had decided they weren't going to say anything, now they were kind of wishing they had, at least, told Blaine. Well, can't dwell on the past now. Seems Kurt was adamant on going on this coffee date.

"Well, have fun I guess. How are you getting there?" Nikel finally asked.

"Gabriel will drive." He didn't want to ask one of them to drive him then come back and get him later.

"Be very careful, Kurt."

Kurt rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. They were treating him like he was five. The group went back to eating though a little more tense than earlier.

* * *

><p>An hour passed much quicker than Kurt would've liked and soon he found himself at the front entrance, Gabriel already there waiting for him.<p>

"Do you have a ride?"

"I'm going with you, I suppose. I didn't want to bother one of the other boys."

Gabriel said nothing to that, just led Kurt out the door and towards his car. The whole drive was awkward, they spoke very little and nothing further than 'how's the weather' sort of comments. Soon they were at a table at the same coffee shop Kurt had been at last week with the boys. Each had a coffee in front of them.

"Why did you invite me here?" Kurt asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I told you to apologize-"

"That can't be the only reason. Because, honestly, why now? You all of a sudden decided to apologize now."

Gabriel wrapped his hand around his coffee and looked past Kurt, thinking, "You shocked me how you brought up Nathans…death, so casually like that. Nobody ever says anything to me about him anymore. Well nobody besides Jamie at least. He yelled at me too. Nathan, I mean, when I first met him. I said something to him; I don't remember what anymore, something about him being there on scholarship. He turned to me and let me have it. He wasn't afraid of me like everyone else. My father is a big contributor to Dalton, an alumni himself you see. He surprised me. Much like you did in fact."

"So you started dating him because he stood up to you?"

Gabriel laughed at his skeptical tone, "No, it just forced me to notice him. He forced me to live beyond my shallow life, to be better than myself. He was with me when I came out to my parents."

Kurt sat up in his chair straighter, "Really?"

"Yes I was quite nervous. I was only fourteen, a freshman. Were your parents accepting of you?"

"My mother died when I was young, but according to my dad they knew since I was three. My dad just shrugged when I told him, if I was gay, I was gay nothing he could do about it. He's very supportive, if not a little uncomfortable sometimes. He found my tiara collection awhile back and took my car from me. I think he panicked."

Gabriel laughed, "Tiara collection, hm?"

Kurt blushed a bit, "Shut up. What about your parents?"

"I live with Jamie actually. My parents refuse to allow me back at their house until I change my ways so to speak. You know, become straight. They still support me financially; they just don't want to see me. Jamie took me in; he truly is my best friend."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I don't want to see them either. If they can't accept their own child…I'd rather not admit they're my parents. Jamie's parents aren't much better, though. While they took me in even though I'm gay, Jamie's older brother was kicked out for getting a girl pregnant out of wedlock. They have no contact with them. Nikel does, though, that's one of the reasons he and Jamie don't get along."

"That's why?"

"One of the reasons at least. Those two have more problems than anybody wants to get involved with trust me. Nicholas and James are two people you're better off not coming between."

"Who?"

"Jamie and Nikel."

Kurt looked at Gabriel confused, "Wait, Nikel's real name is Nicholas?"

"You didn't know?" Gabriel sounded amused, "Nobody calls him that though, except Jamie. Even the teachers know better than to call him Nicholas. He just flat out refuses to answer it."

"Why Nikel then?"

Gabriel shrugged, "Something about it being as unique as he is. Even his parents call him Nikel. I don't know where the name came from so don't ask. You think Zach's insane, you should've met Nikel his freshman year here. Those two were terrors."

Kurt smirked at the thought, "I can't picture it. So why doesn't Nikel and Zach like you? I mean you do come off as less than charming but is it just because of Jamie?"

Nikel, Zach and Blaine always seemed to close up and refused to talk about Gabriel. He was hoping the boy himself might shed some light on the situation.

Gabriel sighed, swirling his coffee cup, "I'm sure it doesn't help I'm friends with Nikel's mortal enemy." He mused, "I told you how I treated Nathan when I first met him. Well he was already friends with those two idiots and they were protective of him. After we started dating they eased up for a bit…but I was young, Kurt, please understand that. Nathan was my first boyfriend and I lost my family by coming out for him. I don't think I was ready and I grew bitter towards Nathan for making me.

"We dated for years and towards the end of it, I started to make comments that in his fragile mental state probably were inappropriate. Nikel and Zach…and Sammy, for that matter, are convinced that my treatment was the finally straw for Nathan. I don't know what was in that note he wrote for Sammy but I can't disagree with them. I was no better than those homophobes that sent him those emails and threatening messages. I'm not proud of my past, but I can't change it. I just wish I could tell him I didn't mean it, that I did love him."

"What-nevermind not my business."

Gabriel smiled sadly, "He was depressed, he asked me if he made a difference in my life. The little brat I was, having just gotten in a fight with my parents again, I replied well I still would be talking to my parents, living at home, if it wasn't for him. Like I said I'm not proud of myself."

Gabriel looked at Kurt shocked when he put his hand on Gabriel's lower arm, "It's not your fault. How were you supposed to know?"

"Thanks." He glanced at his phone, "We should probably get back to Dalton; curfew is coming up. Sorry this turned into a sob story, it wasn't my intention."

"Don't worry about it."

They went their separate ways once they reached Dalton; Kurt to Warwick and Gabriel to Maxstoke. He barely walked into Warwick before he was approached by Blaine who must've been waiting for him on one of the couches.

"How was coffee?"

Kurt couldn't place the tone Blaine used so he shrugged, "Okay. I didn't know Nikel's real name is Nicholas."

Blaine laughed, relaxing, "Shh don't let him hear you utter that, he'll go into another speech how that is not his name, blah, blah, blah. Trust me, it's really boring."

"I'll believe you." They headed up to the rooms together.

"So what else did you guys talk about?" There was that tone again. It almost sounded like jealousy but that couldn't be it.

"Nathan."

Blaine stopped, "Really?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Gabriel doesn't talk about Nathan. I haven't heard him say a thing about what happened since I've been here."

"I don't know what the tell you." They reached Blaine's room, "I'll see you tomorrow. You're still coming to Finn's game?"

"You still want me to?" He sounded surprised.

"Of course…if you still want to that is…" Kurt bit his lip.

Blaine reached out and touched Kurt's hand, "Yeah, I still want to come. See you tomorrow, Kurt."

Kurt blushed, missing the feeling of Blaine's hand immediately, before he went into his own room. He opened the door to see Zach punching a pillow, his hands shaking every time he drew them back to smack the furniture again.

"What happened?" His thoughts of Blaine completely forgotten.

Zach sighed, throwing himself down onto the bed as if suddenly out of energy, "Nothing, don't worry about it. Ugh, just uh stupid straight, oblivious Nikel and stupid bitchy, pretty Loretta. Did Blaine find you?"

The blush was back, "Yeah, he was waiting for me in the common's room."

If Zach noticed his blush he didn't say anything, "Awesome. Well I'm going to bed and hoping this past week was all a nightmare. Good night Kurt."

Kurt stayed up for a long time after Zach went to sleep, who was moving around a lot in his sleep but was surprisingly not talking for once. That left Kurt to his own thoughts. He was nervous about tomorrow. He wasn't ready, how could he be? Maybe he should just bag it, but Blaine looked so excited to be going with him. Damn, he really liked Blaine; he didn't want to have another panic attack in front of him. Damn…he liked Blaine.

* * *

><p>School went by much too fast the next day. It seemed like Kurt barely woke up -to Zach coming out of the bathroom, grumbling, which was surprising he woke up before him- and the day was already over. He had to go to the Warbler Hall for an audition but didn't want the boys to know. Just in case he didn't get in. Now all he had to do was ditch them…which was proving to be easier said than done.<p>

"Don't you want us around? Don't you love us?" Zach whined as soon as Kurt asked if they were going to play a video game. Despite his usual hyper personality Zach looked tired and Kurt had to wonder if the fight with Nikel took more out of him than he originally thought.

"I'm going to the library, Zach; I just didn't think you wanted to go there." Kurt tried before muttered, "Oh were allowed in there."

"Hey! I was kicked out last year not this year." Zach replied, leaning against the nearby wall. He started looking around, obviously losing interest in the conversation.

"I hope you're joking."

"He's not." Nikel replied with a roll of his eyes. He noticed Kurt was acting funny, kind of nervous. He didn't know why but it wasn't his business anyways, "Come on Blaine; let's get you ready to meet Kurt's family. Zach, you're coming too, you're not allowed in the library without supervision."

"Why would we go to the library?" Nikel looked at Zach before shaking his head, pulling him away. Zach had such a weird sense of humor sometimes.

He mouthed a 'thank you' to Nikel as he dragged the boys away, Zach stumbling along. With them out of sight he went to his audition. Each step made him more and more nervous. Finally he was standing in front of Wes, David and Thad, the last who was giving him a hard stare. Oh yeah, Thad was friends with Christof who didn't like him. This was awkward.

"Kurt, we're glad you came. Since you were in New Directions we assume you can sing but we'd still like for you to audition." Wes started, trying to sound professional.

"I'm sure you'll do fine." David interjected, smiling.

"Right. What number will you be performing?"

"Don't Cry for Me Argentina from the musical Evita."

The boys look intrigued, "Proceed."

Kurt closed his eyes, opened his mouth and sang. He kept his eyes closed the whole time, not wanting to see their faces. He could feel his eyes filling with tears but he willed them away. Much like his memories.

'_Maybe you should sing a song about it. You parade around singing; you make me sick, acting better than us.'_

They won't take this away from him. He finished and slowly opened his eyes to see the council staring at him in shock.

"Wow, Kurt that was amazing. A true countertenor, just think of the possibilities, David."

The boys looked at one another all nodding, Wes turned to Kurt with a grin, "Welcome to the Warblers, Kurt. We expect great things from you."

"Thank you, so much."

He felt like he was floating on a cloud as he ran down the hallway to his dorm to get ready to leave. It felt so good to sing once more. Feeling good for once, Kurt threw on some skinny jeans and designer clothes. He topped it off with a scarf and almost felt like his old self again. After a quick glance at the mirror he headed to Blaine's room just as the three boys were exiting. It seemed Nikel wasn't lying they were going to help him get ready. Poor Blaine.

"Have fun, guys, see you tonight." Nikel yelled out walking away from them. Zach next to him.

"Not too much fun. Be safe, use protection. Remember if you-" Nikel clamped his hand over Zach's mouth.

"Lick my hand and I will end you."

Nikel must've removed his hand away because they could hear Zach's reply, "Why in the hell would I lick your hand? God only knows where it's been."

That was the last thing the two boys heard as they headed the other direction.

"You look really good, Kurt." Blaine complimented, as they reached his car.

"Thanks, you as well," It was true; Blaine was out of his uniform and looked adorable. They headed out on the long drive to Lima. Blaine had his Ipod playing, singing along. Kurt would hum or just listen, too embarrassed to sing as well.

Finally Blaine couldn't take it anymore, "Come on Kurt sing with me. Do you like the Beatles?"

When Kurt nodded, he switched to the instrumental Across the Universe version of 'Hey Jude.'

"Sing." Blaine prompted.

Very quietly Kurt began.

"**Hey Jude, don't make it bad  
>Take a sad song and make it better<br>Remember to let her into your heart  
>Then you can start to make it better<strong>

He smiled slightly at Blaine before continuing.  
><strong><br>Hey Jude, don't be afraid  
>You were made to go out and get her<br>The minute you let her under your skin  
>Then you begin to make it better<strong>

Blaine picked up where Kurt left off.

**"Anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude refrain  
>Don't carry the world upon your shoulders<br>Well, you know that it's a fool who plays it cool  
>By making it a little colder<br>Na na na na na na na na na**

"Hey Jude don't let me down  
>You have found her now go and get her"<p>

Kurt interjected, **"Let it out to let it in"**

Both sang the next line. Blaine finishing the last by himself.

**Remember to let her into your heart  
>Then you can start to make it better<br>better better better better better Whooooooooo**

Both boys continued to sing together surprised how well their voices blended.

**"na na na na na na na  
>na na na na hey Jude<br>na na na na na na na  
>na na na na hey Jude<br>na na na na na na na  
>na na na na hey Jude"<strong>

**"na na na na na na na  
>na na na na hey Jude"<strong>

Blaine yelled out the next line laughing, "**JUDE! HEY JUDE! HEY JUDE HEY JUDE HEY JUDE HEY JUDE HEY JUDE HEY!"**

Before they finished the song together.  
><strong><br>"na na na na na na na  
>na na na na hey Jude"<strong>

"Your voice is amazing, Kurt, don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise." Blaine said seriously.

Kurt blushed, something he noticed he does a lot around Blaine. The rest of the car ride was filled with Top 40 music both boys singing along as they wanted. Kurt stiffened in his seat and stopped singing as they went down a familiar street that led to the school. Noticing this, Blaine reached out and lightly put his hand around Kurt's upper arm, offering some form of comfort.

He was practically hyperventilating by the time they reached the parking lot. They were meeting his parents in the stands. Blaine jumped out of the car and moved over to the passenger side opening the door. Kurt couldn't move. Blaine shifted so he was face to face with Kurt who was still in the car.

"Hey, it'll be alright. We're going to watch Finn play; cheer him on and New Directions when they do the half-time show. Then after the game we're going to see all your friends and I'll drive you back to Dalton when you're ready. Okay."

Kurt nodded still shaking, "Okay."

Very slowly he got out of the vehicle. He didn't want to be here anymore, it felt so wrong. Taking a deep breathe he began his walk through the front doors of the school, vaguely aware of Blaine a step behind him. When Blaine reached out to grab his hand to slow him down Kurt immediately yanked it away eyes wide. Blaine looked just as surprised, Kurt hasn't moved away from him like that in a long time.

"You can't just grab my hand like that, Blaine, not here. Do you want to die?"

"I'm sorry, I-I forgot."

If only Kurt could forget. The moved very swiftly down the hallway and out the back doors to the football field. Kurt stopped just short of the bleachers and put his hand over his heart, it hurt. His breathing picked up again and he could feel himself on the edge of a panic attack.

"Hey, it's okay. Breathe. Deep breathes, that's it, just keep breathing." Kurt watched Blaine's face while he instructed Kurt how to do something so simple, so instinctual that no longer was easy for him. Slowly he calmed down enough to speak.

"I'm a mess."

"You're perfect."

Kurt pretended he didn't hear that as he turned to go up the stairs of the bleachers, "Come on, we should find my parents."

Blaine gulped nervously as he followed behind him. He froze a few feet behind Kurt when he greeted two people he assumed were Kurt's dad and stepmom. Three girls ran up to Kurt and started talking to him wildly, Kurt looking a little uncomfortable. Swallowing his own discomfort he stepped forward to give Kurt some reassurance. Quickly all eyes turned to him.

"Oh, Blaine this is my dad, Burt, my stepmom, Carole, and some of my old glee teammates: Mercedes, Tina and you've met Rachel at Sectionals. Everyone this is Blaine, a friend from Dalton."

"Pleasure to meet you, Blaine. Your voice was amazing at Sectionals, we should sing together sometime. I think our voices would blend perfectly."

"That's the biggest compliment you'll ever get out of Rachel." Mercedes butt in, rolling her eyes at the other girl.

"Come on you two sit down." Carole ushered them to their seats. Kurt next to Burt with Blaine on his other side. The others sat down as well to watch the game. Kurt was tense at first but Mercedes discretely told him that certain people wouldn't be playing, because they refused to join in the halftime show and he relaxed a bit. _He_ wasn't there. Even though he never told anyone what happened, for how badly he was teased every day it wasn't a far leap to figure out who probably hurt him. His friends weren't that stupid.

Burt only half paid attention to what was going on, on the field. Most of his attention was on his son. Blaine would say something and Kurt would smile. A real smile. Something he thought was taken from Kurt by those bastards, among many other things. But there he was, his boy, smiling like before. He was wearing his old clothes, speaking in his natural tone and his hair styled like it used to be. And Burt couldn't help but think it had something to do with the boy next to his son.

The girls left to get ready for the half-time show. Blaine was shocked to watch them perform. The Warblers never did anything like this. When he said as much to Kurt the boy just laughed.

"Yeah, we've done Rocky Horror, and Lady Gaga week was pretty interesting. Being freaks was fairly normal around here."

"You're not a freak, Kurt."

Kurt shrugged as if to say 'if you say so.' They were quiet for a few minutes. The half-time show just finished when Blaine shifted uncomfortable.

"So, there's a bathroom in this place right?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, "No Blaine, there's not a single bathroom in the whole school. Come on." He whispered something to his dad before grabbing Blaine and led back to the school. While Blaine was in the bathroom, Kurt leaned in against a wall in the hallway, looking around his old school. He didn't even realize he was moving until he was at the end of a hallway, looking down another dark hallway around the corner. He stared down the hallway, barely able to make it out in the pale moonlight.

_Despite the almost blinding pain Kurt got up and tried to make a run for it. The instinctual need to survive kicked in and he went on autopilot. He barely made it a couple of steps before a foot shot out and tripped him._

"Kurt? Kurt! What's wrong?" He didn't even realize he was gasping for air until Blaine grabbed his shoulders forcing him to look at him. He just pointed down the long hallways. Blaine turned around to look as well, "I don't see anything. Kurt there's nothing there."

"It was there." He whispered, "I ran down that hallway trying to get away. It's where they found me."

_Through his blurred vision he could see Azimio, who pressed his foot hard into Kurt's chest, right on his cracked ribs._

He sunk down against the nearest wall, not even noticing that tears were streaming down his face as Blaine crouched in front of him. He was shaking so hard he couldn't have gotten up if he wanted to.

"Shh, Kurt, it's okay, you're okay."

He tried to say something but he could only whimper as the memories assaulted him.

_Kurt tried to speak, he didn't know what he would've said but it didn't matter. All that came out was trickles of blood._

Why couldn't he move? What was that noise? Oh it was him. He could hear Blaine trying to comfort him, but it hurt so badly. He could still feel it. The helplessness.

_Kurt's eyes fell shut as he was dropped to the floor. He heard their footsteps fade away, some kicking him as they went. As soon as they were gone he tried to move into action. With his good arm he reached for his phone in his pocket finding it cracked and ruined. Black spots appeared in his eyesight and his ears were ringing. His hand was shaking so bad he dropped the phone and it clattered away from him. He couldn't even muster up the energy to try to grab it._

He gasped softly when he felt something warm on his cheek. Opening his eyes that he didn't even realize he closed he saw Blaine was right in front of him. He leaned forward again and kissed the tears away on the other cheek as well. Kurt could only stare at him shocked.

"Sorry." Blaine pulled away looking at the ground.

Kurt moved his hand to his cheek, gently touching the spot Blaine kissed. Not letting himself think too much he leaned forward and kissed Blaine's cheek in return. Biting his lip he pulled away to look down the hallway again, blushing furiously.

"Kurt," Blaine drew his attention back to him, "You're thinking about what happened here again aren't you?"

"I'm a mess." He said again.

Blaine stood up and reached out his hand for Kurt to take, "No you're not. You're beautiful." He helped the other boy to his feet, "I'd like to be given the chance to show you how beautiful you are every day if you'll let me."

"Blaine?"

"I'd like to go out with you, Kurt. I kind of had a better way of asking, one that didn't involve you crying, but…" He drifted off when Kurt smiled at him softly.

"I'm screwed up."

"Aren't we all?"

"I'm not good boyfriend material."

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"No." Kurt replied honestly.

"Then how do you know?"

"My past-"

"I don't care Kurt. I just care about you and you're the strongest most amazing person I ever met."

"We can try." He said finally. He barked out a laugh when Blaine wrapped him up in a tight hug and lifted him off the ground a bit.

"Come on, goof let's get back before my dad sends out a search party."

"This is great; I know this little restaurant I want to take you for our first date. You know Zach's going to give us such crap for this. I hope you're ready for it. Kurt?" Blaine stopped walking and turned to look at Kurt who was a few steps behind him, frozen in place.

His body was tense and his eyes huge. Blaine followed his gaze to see a boy in a Red and Gold McKinley Letterman jacket. He was bigger, beefy with a scowl on his face. It soon turned into a smirk. Blaine, confused, turned his head slightly to look at Kurt while keeping an eye on the other boy as well. Who was this?

"Well if it isn't the little fag. I thought we showed you we don't want you here. Or do you need a reminder. I'm sure your little boyfriend could use the lesson as well."

"Karofsky." Kurt whispered before everything went black.

* * *

><p>Yep, end of chapter again. I know you won't believe me, but I didn't try to end this chapter in a cliffhanger, it just needed to end here. The next chapter picks up the next day and has some important scenes in it.<p>

a little preview since I only have about two pages written:

He was discharged about an hour later and somehow managed to wave off any ideas of him getting into a wheelchair, hospital policy be damned, he wasn't even injured. Soon Kurt and his dad were walking down the hallway, Burt bringing Kurt back to Dalton even though he wanted Kurt to come home to rest for the day. Kurt also fought that idea off, he needed to see Blaine. They were near the doors when Kurt saw a familiar figure out the corner of his eye.

"Zach?"


	13. Something's just not right

aridnie: She is. Nobody has any idea how much of one.

MusicalEscape: Its okay if you haven't noticed I nickname everyone too. Nathan-Nat, Natty: Gabriel-Gabby, Gab: James-Jamie, Jboy: Nikel-Nike: Zach-Z. Yep I love nicknames. Some of those haven't been said yet but they will. It's just easier.

xsilvershadowx: This was only the first confrontation with Karofsky. The next one is the real problem.

Switch: Thank you so much for telling me that. I'll have to change it.

Dbz27: Thank you so much for the holiday wishes. I would've answered back but I haven't had my computer for a while and my phone doesn't really do anything but let me look at emails.

Okay so I know some of you expected something way more with the confrontation with Karofsky but this is just the first one with him. Kind of to introduce him to Blaine. This is the last we've seen of him.

Sorry about the long wait. I haven't had my computer for awhile and updating on my phone or kindle is damn near impossible. Thanks for your patience.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the song 'Far away' by Nickelback.

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><p>Kurt opened his eyes slowly, the smell alone telling him where he was: the hospital. He was so sick of this place. Groaning he sat up, confused on why he was here this time. He didn't feel hurt, so what happened?<p>

"Kurt, you're awake. I'll go get your doctor." Burt stood up to leave.

"Dad, wait, what happened?"

"Blaine said you fainted while heading back to the football field. You had a really bad panic attack. I'm sure Blaine can explain the rest."

Kurt winced, "I'm not going to get admitted into a mental hospital, am I?" He didn't want to go.

"No, kid, you won't have to be." He started to leave again.

"How long was I out?" Kurt stopped him once again.

Burt sighed and rubbed his forehead, "It's Wednesday about three, so not even a full day."

"I missed school." He replied, needlessly. He missed his first Warbler practice too.

"I called your school. I also had to tell your friend, Blaine, to go back. He wanted to stay all night, but there was no way he was getting out of school. Now I need to get your doctor, Kurt, or you'll be here longer."

When his doctor came back he was told things he already figured were going to happen. His medication dosage was going to be changed, again, and medication switched in some areas. He had to stay away from any potential stressful situations. By the end of it, Kurt just wanted out. He wanted to see Blaine, make sure Karofsky didn't do anything after he blacked out. The thought made him sick.

He was discharged about an hour later and somehow managed to wave off any ideas of him getting into a wheelchair, hospital policy be damned. Soon Kurt and his dad were walking down the hallway, Burt bringing Kurt back to Dalton even though he wanted Kurt to come home to rest for the day. Kurt also fought that idea off, he had to see Blaine. They were near the doors when Kurt saw a familiar figure out the corner of his eye.

"Zach?" He asked. The boy wiped around to look at him, eyes wide.

"Kurt! I-I came to see you, but you're already out it seems. You're going back to Dalton, right?" Zach was smiling widely, bouncing on his feet. He stopped after a few hops though, settling on just looking at Kurt anxiously.

"Yeah, my dad's going to drop me off."

"I came with my mom if you want a ride back. She has to drop me off and we live only 20 minutes away from Dalton. That way your dad doesn't have to make the long drive back to Lima."

"I can go ask."

"Okay." Zach responded quickly, "You ask, I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." Kurt watched as Zach practically sprinted to the toilet.

"He's in a hurry." Burt commented, approaching his son.

"That's just how Zach is. Dramatic about everything." Kurt replied, before asking his dad about Zach's suggestion. It took more convincing than he originally thought. Zach was back and helping him convince his dad it was alright. Ultimately it took Zach's mother to finally allow Kurt to go with them.

So with Zach by his side he followed Zach's mother to their car. Kurt smiled; he knew where Zach got his looks from. He was a male version of his mother. They all climbed in while Zach's mother put some quiet music on for them as she began the drive home.

Zach immediately slumped against his seat, closing his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Zach cracked an eye open, "Yeah, Blaine said they took you to the hospital and I couldn't sleep. I was worried about you. Do you want to talk about it?"

Kurt shook his head, "No, you can sleep. I might try to sleep as well. Hey, why did your mom drive you to the hospital?"

Zach gave him a sleepy smile, "You heard Nikel I always crash cars when I drive them. My parents don't trust me driving anymore." He barely finished that before he was out. Shrugging, Kurt closed his own eyes and managed to doze off as well.

Kurt woke up with a jolt to see Zach's mom pulling her hand away. She must've shaken him awake. Groaning, he opened the door and got out of the car. He looked to see Zach doing the same. He thanked Zach's mom before the two went into the school. It was dinner time and the building was quiet, everyone was in the cafeteria already. They headed in that direction only to be stopped by Nikel who was exiting with some food.

"Hey! Welcome back, Kurt, how are you feeling?"

"Fine, thank you. Is Blaine in there?"

Nikel shook his head, "He's in his dorm; I was just heading up there to bring him food. Loretta's coming over in a bit just so everyone's aware."

Kurt glanced at Zach who was staring blankly at the statement. Though they resolved their issues two days ago, he could still see some tension between them. It probably would always be there…at least until Zach confessed. They switched directions and continued walking.

"Just so you're aware, I'm not going to play nice. I need to practice for solo audition's coming up in Glee."

"Please don't sing an offensive song to Loretta, Zach, I'm begging you."

"No promises." He said stopping outside Blaine's dorm, "In fact I can almost guarantee the opposite."

Nikel ignored Zach with a roll of his eyes and held out the food to Kurt, "Do you want to give it to him? I need to fill out some paperwork before Loretta gets here."

Kurt nodded, accepting the plate. Nikel gave them a quick smile before leaving.

Kurt turned to Zach who was ramrod straight, "Uh you talk to Blaine, I'll be in our room." He sprinted away from Kurt and all but slammed the door to their dorm room in his rush.

Frowning, Kurt turned to Blaine's dorm and knocked quietly. It took a few minutes but finally Blaine opened the door. A grin broke out on his face when he saw it was Kurt, though he had a look of concern in his eyes.

"Kurt, you're back!"

"What happened to your eye?" He blurted out in return.

Sighing, he gently grabbed the boy and pulled him into his room. They both sat comfortably on the bed. Blaine looked anywhere but Kurt, biting his lip.

"Blaine?"

"Sorry. You passed out after seeing that guy. He made a couple more comments I'm not going to repeat and I made some comments back. It must've pissed him off because next thing I know his fist connected with my face," Kurt gasped, covering his mouth with his hands, "Santana showed up then still in her zombie make-up. That girl is amazing. Does she have a Kurt sense or something to know when you're in danger? Anyways, she started causing this big scene and a few more people showed up and the guy took off. We took you to the hospital. They checked out my eye and cleared me. Your dad made me go back to Dalton."

"I know, he told me." He looked at Blaine and carefully moved his hand to trace over the bruise, "You shouldn't have done that, Blaine. Karofsky is dangerous. He could've really hurt you. He could've-"He stopped talking, finding that he had trouble breathing.

"Kurt, breathe, come on. That's it. Careful breathes, like me. There you go." He finally calmed down and they sat in silence for a bit.

"Kurt." Blaine whispered, "Is he the one…"

"No." He said a little too quickly.

"Kurt, you could press charges against him. He could go to prison."

"Nobody will believe me anyways. Nobody will do anything; it's something that happens if you're gay. It's a part of life and nobody's going to do anything about it. It's my word against his, it won't end well."

"You can at least try."

"He threatened to kill me, Blaine! If he doesn't go to jail I'll spend the rest of my life looking behind me, knowing he knows I told. I can't."

"And what exactly are you doing now?"

"I'm trying to move on." He snapped. He sighed, lying completely down on the bed, "Can we not talk about this anymore? Please?"

The pleading tone in Kurt's voice stopped Blaine from saying anymore. Instead he let out a sigh of his own moving to lie down next to the other boy. Their sides were touching and Blaine moved his hand to grab Kurt's. Kurt moved his hand as well, interlacing their fingers.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Blaine asked suddenly.

"Homework? I don't really know." Kurt shrugged in return.

"Well would you like to go out with me after I go to Warbler practice? Like a date?"

"You-You still want to go out with me?"

Blaine sat up on his elbows and looked down at Kurt, "Kurt…I really like you; you're amazing. I'd be honored to go out on a date with you."

"Yeah." Kurt whispered, "That sounds nice. Where are we going?"

Blaine smiled impishly, "Now that's a surprise."

Kurt pouted, "Fine. So did you hear Loretta's coming to visit? We should probably get up and make sure Zach doesn't do something crazy." Blaine gave him an odd look, "Okay something crazier than normal. Then again he's really tired so he might actually be civil."

"I was just going to say do we have to babysit him? I didn't get back from the hospital until almost one in this morning. I'm exhausted. Then I had to answer everyone's questions at breakfast where you were. You should've seen some of the boys they wanted to leave for the hospital to see you as soon as I told him."

"Yes we do," He said before he furrowed his eyebrows, "Wait you told everyone this morning?"

Blaine looked just as confused, "Yeah, I got back too late to tell anyone right away. Why?"

He shook his head, "No reason. I must've misunderstood, Zach. It's no big deal."

They lay like that for a while longer. Hands clasped and Kurt leaned his head carefully onto Blaine's shoulder. Blaine had his head onto of Kurt's and fell into a light sleep. Kurt, on the other hand, stayed awake. He had a lot on his mind, which seemed like a usual occurrence now-a-days.

Kurt woke Blaine up after a bit. He could hear voices outside and he could only assume Loretta was over. He needed to be Zach's support system. Together they went to the common's area, holding hands. Nikel, who was sitting next to Loretta on the love seat, smiled at them, while Zach, who was sitting a single chair, wolf-whistled. Though he was grinning as well, Kurt could see the strain. He obviously didn't want to be around the two.

"So when did that happen?" Nikel teased.

"Yesterday before the fainting incident," Kurt replied, making a face, "Zach, are you okay?"

Zach was tapping his fingers rapidly on the arm of the chair while his eyes seemed to never stop moving. They focused on Kurt for a minute before moving away again.

Loretta rolled her eyes, "Zach's never okay. Crazy people are not okay. I'm sure there's a mental hospital somewhere with his name on one of the doors."

Zach barely looked at her, "Yeah, I'm fine Kurt, just debating what song to sing for my solo audition."

Loretta narrowed her eyes in on Zach. He's never ignored her like that before. Nikel and Blaine both looked surprised as well.

"Why bother? You've auditioned many times now, you never get it." Loretta continued.

Zach shrugged, "If I don't try, I'll never even be considered."

She gritted her teeth, "Whatever, Zach, I'm just saying you're unless when it comes to singing."

"Loretta," Nikel snapped, "Be nice."

Zach stood up, "I'm going to go back to my room. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

They watched the blond walk way before looking at each other shrugging. They've never seen him pass up a chance to argue with Loretta.

"He must be really tired." Kurt commented.

Loretta snuggled up against Nikel, "Who cares? He'll be annoying people again in no time. Might as well enjoy the silence while it lasts."

Nikel lightly pushed his girlfriend away, "That's really mean, Loretta."

"Fine, maybe he needs to get laid. Find him a girlfriend." She smirked, "Or boyfriend?"

Nikel shook his head, "I'm not finding a boyfriend for Zach, Loretta. That's just weird." Nikel looked around at three shocked faces, "What? You didn't know Zach was gay?"

"You did?" Loretta finally replied, "And you've shared a bed with him?"

Nikel just shrugged, "He's my best friend; of course I know he's gay. I mean he never said it outright, but I'm not blind. He's just picky. He hasn't found a guy he likes enough to date yet. And Loretta, I share a bed with him sometimes, because I've been doing that since before I knew. It's not going to change."

Kurt withheld a groan. So much for not being blind. They sat out there for a while longer before Kurt became sick of hearing Loretta talk and got up to leave. Blaine followed him not wanting to get stuck alone with those two. He grabbed Kurt's hand, once again, for the short walk back to their rooms.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Kurt leaned forward and carefully kissed Blaine's cheek, "See you tomorrow." He echoed, letting go of Blaine's hand, walking to his own room.

He shut the door to his room and looked around, not seeing Zach. He was in the center of the room when he heard retching from the bathroom followed by the toilet flushing. A few minutes passed before Zach walked out. He barely glanced at Kurt before falling face first into his bed. He moved to his side, curling up in a ball not even bothering to crawl under the covers.

"Zach, were you just throwing up?"

Zach opened on eye to look at Kurt, "No."

"I heard you." He tried.

"I wasn't throwing up Kurt, let it go. God you're not my mother, fuck off!" Kurt stiffened like he was just slapped. Zach hasn't spoken to him like that since that incident when he thought he was a homophobe.

"I was just concerned." Kurt retorted, going to his drawers to grab some pajama's and moved towards the bathroom.

"Well don't be. I'm not a child."

Kurt practically slammed the door to the bathroom. Zach was acting like jerk and he didn't like it. When he came back out, Zach was asleep, under the covers. Rolling his eyes, he went to his bed. He could only hope the blond would be in a better mood in the morning.

Kurt woke up the next morning and got ready for class. He was completely ready when he noticed Zach wasn't up. It was starting to get late.

Groaning he moved over towards Zach's bed and called for him.

"Zach, wake up. You're going to be late for class."

Zach barely opened his eyes, dark circles under his eyes, "Not going."

"You can't skip, Zach."

He did a half shrug, burrowing deeper into his pillows, "I'm not going. Don't worry about. I'll call my parents."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I'll be fine. Let me sleep."

Realizing, Zach wasn't going to get up Kurt went back to his side of the room to grab his backpack. He spared a look back at Zach to see the boy was already asleep.

Quietly he went out the door and waited for the rest of the boys to join him instead of them knocking and potentially waking Zach.

"Hey, Kurt, why are you out here?" Nikel greeted, raising an eyebrow, "Is Zach's oddness wearing off on you?"

"Actually, Zach's sick. He's sleeping right now so I didn't want you guys waking him."

"Oh stay away from him when he's sick. He's always cranky." Blaine said from the other side of Kurt.

Kurt turned and smiled at him, "Hey."

Blaine grabbed his hand and squeezed lightly, "Hey."

"Ugh you two are going to be a disgustingly cute couple, I can just tell. Now come on, let's get breakfast."

Breakfast without Zach was an uneventful event, though holding Blaine's hand nearly the whole time caused some of the boys to gently tease them. Blaine grinning brightly the whole time while Kurt just dunked his head down slightly embarrassed.

The rest of the day was the same. Blaine would show up to walk Kurt to each of his class and the other boys would wolf-whistle among another comments. None were bad, but Kurt wasn't use to the attention, at least good attention like this was. No insults were being thrown at him or Blaine.

When it came time for Warbler practice, Kurt followed Blaine, knowing Blaine just assumed he was there to sit in like he always asked him to. They were surprised to find Zach there, sitting in a single chair in the corner, looking better than he did earlier.

Wes called everyone to order and smiled, something the other boys weren't used to seeing, "Everyone attention, I'd like to welcome our newest member, Kurt Hummel, who auditioned in front of council and was accepted. Make him feel welcomed."

There was a stunned silence before everyone broke out in cheering, Blaine turning and wrapping Kurt in a hug.

"I can't believe you joined and didn't tell me!"

"Surprise?"

"This is amazing!" He laughed before lowering his voice a bit, "Though I wish I could've seen your audition."

Wes and David called everyone to order once again after a few minutes of cheering, "Well its auditions week, you guys, Zach you're up today. You have something prepared?"

Sighing Zach stood up and slowly walked to the middle of the room. The music started and with a deep breath so did Zach.

"**This time, This place  
>Misused, Mistakes<br>Too long, Too late  
>Who was I to make you wait<br>"Just one chance  
>Just one breath<br>Just in case there's just one left  
>'Cause you know,<br>you know, you know"**

There was a passion in Zach's voice as he sang.

"**That I love you  
>I have loved you all along<br>And I miss you  
>Been far away for far too long<br>I keep dreaming you'll be with me  
>and you'll never go<br>Stop breathing if  
>I don't see you anymore<strong>

**On my knees, I'll ask**  
><strong>Last chance for one last dance<strong>  
><strong>'Cause with you, I'd withstand<strong>  
><strong>All of hell to hold your hand<strong>  
><strong>I'd give it all<strong>  
><strong>I'd give for us<strong>  
><strong>Give anything but I won't give up<strong>  
><strong>'Cause you know,<strong>  
><strong>you know, you know"<strong>

Zach put everything he had into the end of the song. His voice echoing through the room as he finished.

**"I wanted  
>I wanted you to stay<br>'Cause I needed  
>I need to hear you say<br>That I love you  
>I have loved you all along<br>And I forgive you  
>For being away for far too long<br>So keep breathing  
>'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore<br>Believe it  
>Hold on to me and, never let me go<br>Keep breathing  
>'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore<br>Believe it  
>Hold on to me and, never let me go<br>Keep breathing  
>Hold on to me and, never let me go"<strong>

Everyone applauded his surprising performance. Instead of his usual cocky showmanship Zach opted to return to his seat in silence. Though, he wore a proud smirk.

"Zach that was amazing!" Blaine complimented as they walked out of practice.

Zach shrugged, "It was nothing. I'm going back to my room now."

"Are you still not feeling well?" Kurt asked, tilting his head.

"I'm fine, just need to rest to be back to 100 percent. You know the drill."

"Okay, well I'll be back later."

Zach mustered up a smirk, "Why? Going out on a date?"

"Shut it, Zach."

Together the two boys walked towards Blaine's car and got in.

"So, where are we going?"

"Just out to dinner nothing too fancy. I hope that's okay?" Blaine replied as he drove.

"It's perfect."

As they drove they talked about their favorite music and other interests. They talked the whole way until Blaine finally stopped outside a small café.

"I found this place when I first started at Dalton, it has the best home-cook meals and desserts you'll ever have." Grabbing Kurt's hand he led him into the mom'n'pop like restaurant. Kurt pulled his hand away just before they entered the restaurant, giving Blaine a sheepish look.

They took their seats and stared at one another all of a sudden feeling awkward. After a few moments of awkward silence, in which their order was taken, Blaine broke out laughing, Kurt started to chuckle as well.

"How is it we can talk the whole car ride here but we get all nervous as soon as this date actually begins."

Kurt shook his head, "I don't know. We're being idiots aren't we?"

"Just a bit."

They fell into easy conversation after that. Soon they were done eating and walking around the park not far from the restaurant. Though it was getting chilly out it was perfect walking weather. Grabbing Kurt's hand once again they made a few laps around.

"Kurt." Blaine started, pulling on his hand to make his stop in front of him, "I really like you. Thanks for agreeing on going out with me."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Only you would thank me for something like that. I really like you too. I mean obviously, only for you would I go out on a date still in this hideous Dalton uniform."

He laughed, "Sorry, we probably could've changed first."

"It's fine. It's perfect."

Blaine leaned forward and gently kissed him. He wasn't sure what he expected but to be smacked was definitely not it. He stumbled back a step. Next thing he knew Kurt was next to him, trying to grab his face and see if he caused any damaged. Well besides the bruise that was already there from Karofsky.

"I'm so sorry, Blaine, I didn't mean to. I really didn't. I'm so sorry. I can't believe I did that. I'm so sorry."

He focused his eyes on Kurt who looked so heartbroken.

"It's okay, Kurt, I'm fine. May I ask why you hit me?"

"I don't know. You kissed me and my mind flashed back to…that and I just reacted. I told you I'm a total screw up."

Blaine wanted to smack himself. How could he forget about the kiss incident that Kurt told him about? No wonder he hit him.

"You're not a screw up." He held out his hand, "Come on lets go back to the dorms." He frowned when Kurt didn't grab his hand, "Kurt, I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself if anything. I didn't even think…"

"You shouldn't have to." He was looking at the ground, "Don't you see? You shouldn't have to worry about getting hurt every time you want to kiss me. Or say something that might trigger a panic attack. You could do so much better than me."

Blaine moved and lightly grabbed Kurt's chin forcing him to meet his eyes, "No I can't. There's nobody better for me than you. I want to date you."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's shoulders and hugged him close, "I don't deserve you."

He hugged him just as close, "You do though; you deserve so much happiness."

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><p>So there's the chapter. The next chapter already a few pages in and takes place two months later, at Christmas. I should have it up sooner than I did this one. I know Zach was actiing really weird this chapter but it'll be explained soon enough. He's just...well Zach...<p>

Preview of Chapter 14:

**1.)**

**He grew more concerned as he watched his dad shift uncomfortably, "Well you should invite him here for Christmas Eve, at least. Finn asked Rachel since she doesn't celebrate Christmas at home, you should ask your…boyfriend." **

"**Are you sure?"**

"**Yeah, I want to meet him properly this time. The last time I saw him was at the football game and you two weren't dating then." **

**2.)**

"**Did you hear? There was an ambulance outside of Dalton, they were loading someone inside." **

"**Really? Who?"**

"**No clue."**

**Hearing footsteps the two boys looked up to see Kurt running towards them. He stopped in front of them out of breath. He was abnormally pale and shaking.**

"**Kurt? What's wrong?"**

"**He just collapsed in class and wouldn't wake up. The teacher called 911."**

"**Who? Who passed out?" **


	14. Of Christmas' and Ambulances

So my cousin thought I should get a facebook since my abilities to respond to people on this site is difficult and I just don't understand tumblr, so I did. Feel free to 'Like' the page –it's my author name- and you can talk to me there, I'll be more likely to respond. I'll also probably post previews to chapters, heads up when I'm updating stuff and other such stuff there.

Thank you for all the reviews. There's an author's note at the end since I don't want to say too much before the chapter.

Enjoy. There is a time jump in this chapter. Just to warn everyone again.

Disclaimer: I don't own glee just OCs. PS. This is not Beta'd, she was too sick to do it and I didn't fee like waiting.

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><p>Kurt stared out the window. They've had a bit of snow and the layer outside gave the world a very pure look. It was really cold though and Kurt could finally break out his winter collection, which he was happy about even though there wasn't much opportunity to wear them with Dalton's strict uniform code.<p>

He tried to keep his mind on his winter clothes otherwise he would start to think of the real reason he was staring out the window. He was waiting for Blaine who was having a Christmas Eve dinner with his family, how awkward. How did he get into this again?

**-Flashback-**

"Kurt that you?" Burt asked as Kurt walked through the front door Friday night, a week before Christmas. He didn't have to come back this weekend considering he'd be back home Wednesday evening, but he wanted to help get everything ready.

"Yeah, it's me."

"You were out on a date with uh.."

"Blaine."

"Blaine again?"

"Yep, like every Friday." Even though they've only been dating two months they already had a routine down.

"What's he doing for Christmas?"

Kurt walked into the room and looked at his dad, not sure why he was asking, "Probably nothing, his family doesn't get together until the weekend after since so many fly in from other place."

He grew more concerned as he watched his dad shift uncomfortably, "Well you should invite him here for Christmas Eve, at least. Finn asked Rachel since she doesn't celebrate Christmas at home, you should ask your…boyfriend."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I want to meet him properly this time. The last time I saw him was at the football game and you two weren't dating then."

"I'll call him."

**-End flashback-**

Oh right.

"Kurt, are you going to stare out the window until he gets here or actually listen to me talk?"

Oh right, Rachel was sitting next to him. Why wasn't she bugging Finn again with her chatter? He turned his head to see Finn playing a football game on his Xbox. Of course. Blaine better get here soon.

"Yeah Rachel, I was listening to you talk about your most recent solo in glee." He wasn't listening, but he figured that was the safest bet.

"Nice try. I was talking about Brittany wearing my clothing ideas then taking credit for them."

"Why would Brittany wear clothes like yours?" He may have said that with a little more insult than he meant to.

"I dress very fashionably, Kurt. All the glee girls are dressing like me except maybe Mercedes."

"At least somebody has some sense left." He looked at Rachel's outfit and shuddered, "I'm going to have a long chat with Santana the next time I see her."

"There is nothing wrong with the way I dress."

Kurt rolled his eyes and looked out the window again. A smile broke out on his face when he saw Blaine's familiar car pull into the driveway. He didn't even have to give Rachel an explanation when he jumped up and all but ran towards the door.

He took a minute to compose himself before he threw open the door, just as Blaine was about to knock.

"Eager much?" He said causing Kurt to blush.

"Maybe just a little," He breathed out, pulling the other boy into the house, "Merry Christmas, Blaine."

He leaned forward and hugged Kurt briefly, "Merry Christmas Kurt."

They pulled apart and Kurt led Blaine into the living room. Rachel immediately jumped off the couch and held her hand out for Blaine to shake.

"Nice to see you again, Blaine. Even though I'm Jewish Merry Christmas. I decided to spend this holiday with Finn even though my own beliefs-"

"Rachel, why don't you check on that Tofu Turkey that Carole is making to make sure it looks okay?"

"Good idea, I'm vegan in case you didn't know." She said to Blaine before exiting the room. Blaine turned his gaze to Kurt, his eyebrow raised. Kurt just shook his head.

"Don't even ask. She's…something else." Kurt muttered then looked at his step-brother, "Finn we have company, company that includes your girlfriend."

Finn paused his game and looked at the other two boys, "Oh hey dude, uh, wanna play?" He held up a second controller.

Kurt looked at Blaine, "If he wants to he can. I'm going to make sure Dad found the angel for the tree."

Blaine decided to bond with Finn and joined him and Kurt went to the attic to look for his dad. He found him looking at some pictures that were in the box with the angel. Upon closer inspection, Kurt realized they were pictures of him, his father and mother all taken around Christmas time.

"Dad?"

He looked up, "Oh, hey kid. I forgot these were in that box. Your mom bought that angel for your first Christmas you know."

"I heard this story every year since I was born, Dad. Blaine's here, you probably want to get downstairs, we'll be eating soon."

"Is Rachel still talking about all the songs she sang so far this year in glee?"

"No, that stopped about a half hour ago."

"I know she's Finn's girlfriend and she can be nice, but she's usually just annoying. Well then, downstairs we go." They started down the stairs together, "Where's Blaine?"

"Finn recruited him to play football on the Xbox. Typical boys."

"You play that Xbox with Finn often enough."

"When it's just him and me. Finn has Rachel here and he's ignored her the whole time meaning I've had to listen to her."

They entered the living room. Blaine paused the game and jumped up to greet Burt, "Thank you for inviting me, sir."

"It's Burt, kid. Relax," He began to walk away, "The interrogation won't begin until dinner." He disappeared into the next room.

"Dad!" Kurt yelled after him while Blaine looked at him scared. He hoped he was joking.

He wasn't.

As they all sat down at the table to eat Burt looked at the boy, "So Blaine, tell me about your family."

Blaine gulped, "It's just my dad, mom, older sister and me. My sister's a sophomore at college so I don't see her often."

"Do they know you're gay?"

"Dad." Kurt hissed.

Blaine laughed, "It's okay, Kurt. I came out to them when I was a freshman. My mom and sister were very accepting. My dad, I don't think he knew how to react, he completely threw him. He took me to a lot of football games and I helped him rebuild a car. At first I thought he was trying to change me, but after I talked to him I found out he just didn't know how to act around me. We're doing a lot better now. They know I'm dating Kurt." He finished, reaching under the table to grab Kurt's hand. Kurt smiled.

"Dad grounded me when he found my tiara collection." Kurt replied, when it looked like his dad was going to say something about Blaine's father. Though he kind of felt bad, he still smirked at the sheepish look on Burt's face. His father has overreacted before too and Kurt pretty much screamed gay.

Dinner after that had calmed down. Rachel started talking about Glee Club and the conversation managed to stay off Blaine and Kurt. Once dinner was done and everything was cleaned up, the two boys went up to Kurt's room to relax- door open of course.

They both collapsed on his bed, curling up together. Cuddling was something they both enjoyed and sometimes Kurt found himself sneaking into Blaine's room at Dalton just to cuddle. It paid to know the R.A of Warwick and be dating the Junior R.A.

"So what else do you guys do on Christmas Eve?" Blaine asked quietly, running his nose through Kurt's hair.

Kurt shrugged, "This is the first year with Finn and Carole so we're trying to combine traditions. It seems to be going well so far. I'm glad you could come, Blaine."

"I'm glad your dad allowed me. I would invite you to mine but I don't want to subject you to that. A few of my extended family are kind of homophobic and you don't need to deal with that right now. Maybe Easter I'll have you over to meet my parents."

Kurt yawned, "That would be nice."

"Hey you can't sleep yet. I have to give you your present."

"You shouldn't have gotten me anything."

Blaine smiled, "I wanted to. I'll be right back. It's in my car."

He whined as Blaine got up and walked out the door. Groaning he sat up and reached over to grab the present he bought for Blaine. It wasn't much but they've only been dating a few months. Plus it was better than what he got Zach, Nikel, Wes, David and Sammy. Those he gave to the boys the last day of school before break. Honestly he expected Zach to text him more jokes from the joke book he bought than he did. After talking to Nikel though he found out that Zach wasn't really texting anyone and wasn't going to Nikel's for a New Year's party his parents hosted every year. Funny he didn't say anything about Loretta being there.

"Here it is." Blaine said coming back into the room jarring Kurt from his thoughts.

He gingerly took the box and opened it. Inside was a beautiful silver scarf and gloves to match. He looked up at Blaine and smiled, "It's beautiful, but it's too much."

Blaine leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together, "I know you're depressed you can't wear your winter clothes at Dalton but they have nothing against wearing scarves and gloves in the winter and I thought these would bring out your eye."

Closing the few inches between them, Kurt gently but quickly kissed Blaine before pulling back. Though he was getting better at it occasionally his memories got the better of him and Blaine would end up being pushed away.

"Thank you." He whispered, before reaching behind him, "Here," He handed him a box, "It's not much."

He bit his lip while watching his boyfriend open the box. Inside was blank sheet music, some piano books as well picks for his guitar along with some new strings and a new guitar strap with music notes on it. He knew Blaine snapped one of the strings on his guitar and didn't replace it yet.

"I know you play a bit of piano but I thought I could teach you more if you're interested." Kurt started babbling, "I know it's not much, but I didn't know what to get you and you said you snapped a string on your guitar and I know you don't have a strap for it and-"

He was cut off by Blaine's lips briefly on his.

"I love it. Thank you."

They kissed again and laid down together to cuddle and chat. Kurt smiled to himself; this was the best Christmas he's had in a while.

* * *

><p>"Do we have any classes together?" Blaine asked as they walked to where most of the classes were located. With a new semester, everyone's classes changed. Kurt was hoping he had more with friends; he was pretty lonely last semester.<p>

It was January 3rd and the first day back to school since break. His dad dropped him off at school so he didn't really see anyone yet.

Kurt grabbed Blaine's schedule and compared them, "We have history together before lunch." He concluded before giving it back, "It's better than nothing."

"Hey boys welcome back." They looked over to see Nikel and Sammy walking towards them. Sammy was on his phone and from the sounds of it talking to Allina.

Nikel rolled his eyes, "They spent the whole break together but he's been on the phone with her since he got here this morning."

"How's Loretta?" Kurt asked politely.

Nikel shrugged, "Okay I guess. I saw her the first day of break to exchange gifts but only text her since. We both have been busy."

"She doesn't come to your New Years Party?"

Nikel frowned, "No, it's my parents party, they like Zach so he's been coming since Freshman year. That reminds me, I have to scold him for my mother since he didn't coming this year. My mother adores him; I think she'd trade me in a second." He laughed good naturedly about it.

"You haven't seen Zach yet?"

"Nope it's strange. Have you guys?"

"Nope." Blaine responded, looking around, "Wes, David, over here!"

"Hey guys how was break?" Wes asked coming over.

"Not too bad." Blaine replied as they all traded brief break stories. The boys teased Kurt and Blaine since Blaine spent Christmas eve at Kurt's. They were so immature.

"Have you guys seen Zach?" Nikel asked.

"Yeah I saw him walk in. Haven't seen him since. His mom was with him."

"Why was Maria with him?" Nikel asked which Kurt thought was weird that he was on a first name basis with Zach's mom.

"Who knows. Oh there he is. Hey Zach!" David yelled out.

Zach wandered over to them, a tired smile on his lips.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked. Zach had tired circles under his eyes.

He tapped his fingers against his leg as if to a beat only he could hear, "Yeah, you know break means no curfew, I may have stayed up a little too late most nights." He laughed lightly as he said it.

"How was your guy's Christmas'?"

"Pretty good." Kurt replied, "How was your Christmas, Zach?"

"Long and boring. How was your Christmas?"

Kurt frowned, "You already asked that."

Zach bit his lip, "Sorry, you know you get in the habit. Every family member I talked to it was the same conversation. Kind of a habit now. My bad."

The warning bell went off then and everyone started heading off to their various classes. Kurt found he also had Zach in his history class with Blaine. He had to wonder how the kid managed to stay in this school. He spent the whole time tapping his fingers on the desk, staring off into space. He didn't pay attention once.

Lunch was a normal affair. Nothing seemed to change there, but Kurt did wave at Gabriel when he walked past their table. Jamie sniffed at him but Gabriel waved back, smirking. He seemed to laugh when Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him to their table.

It was the last period of the day. Blaine and Wes sat in the library since they had a study hall period. Wes was going over their hypothetical set list of Regionals while Blaine nodded at appropriate times.

David walked up to them near the end of the period. He also had study hall but decided to help Ms. Carson in the art room, "Did you hear? There was an ambulance outside of Dalton; they were loading someone inside like half hour ago."

"Really? Who?" Wes asked, looking up from his work.

"No clue." He replied as the bell went off signaling the end of the school day.

"No rumors so far?" Blaine asked. There were always rumors.

Hearing footsteps the two boys looked up to see Kurt running towards them. He stopped in front of them out of breath. He was abnormally pale and shaking.

"Kurt? What's wrong?"

"He just collapsed in class and wouldn't wake up. The teacher called 911."

"Who? Who passed out?" Blaine asked, grabbing his boyfriend and pushing him down where he had been sitting. Nikel walked in then. They planned on meeting there after school since most of their group had study hall in the library.

"Where's Zach?" Nikel asked Kurt, "Kurt what's wrong?"

"Zach collapsed in class. He just went down. The teacher called 911 and he was shaking. I think he had a seizure. They wouldn't tell us anything."

"I'm calling Maria." Nikel announced pulling out his phone. He dialed quickly and then seemed to be arguing with Zach's mom before hanging up.

"She said we can't see him right now, but she said not to worry."

"I say we go to the hospital anyways." Wes replied, putting his papers away.

"Maria said she'd call later. It's just not a good time right now. He just arrived. I think they're running tests." Nikel replied, collapsing in the seat next to Kurt.

"We'll go in a bit then."

They headed to the dorms, most going into Blaine's room but Nikel continued on to his own. He knew there was something weird about Zach today but what could cause a seizure like that out of nowhere.

It was past dinner when finally Nikel couldn't take it anymore and called Blaine saying he was going to the hospital. Maria never called him back but he didn't care. He had to see his best friend. Kurt and Blaine decided they'd go too but Wes, David and Sammy would stay behind to it didn't get crowded. They were supposed to call with any news.

Nikel ran around his room grabbing his coat and other necessities when there was a knock on his door. He was supposed to go to Blaine's room to get the two boys so why would they come down to his? Nikel opened up his door. A confused look crossed his face as he saw Loretta standing before him.

"Are you ready to go?"

Nikel blinked his eyes wide, "Oh shit! Sorry, Lore, Zach collapsed in school today and I'm going to go see him in the hospital. Whether he wants visitors or not. Which I'm going to assume not."

"We made plans, Nikel. You're seriously ditching me on our date night? You just said yourself he doesn't want visitors. He's probably fine."

Nikel stared at her shocked, "Why are you being a bitch about this? My best friend is in the hospital and you're worried about me missing our date. What the fuck, Loretta?"

"I'm just saying you can go out with me or you can sit in the hospital waiting room since he doesn't want to see anyone anyways. Which seems like more fun?"

"It doesn't matter what's fun. What matters is that he knows I'm there. I'm there for him and that I care."

"You're so stupid, Nikel. You're stupid and blind." She screamed.

"Really, Loretta? Insulting me now? I'm not Zach; I'm your boyfriend."

"Are you sure?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snapped back. He didn't have time for her princess ways.

"You share a bed with Zach all the time. You let him hang off you, you have dedicated gaming nights where you never text or call me back, he knows your whole family and your older brother actually likes him, hell he's been to more holidays at your house than I have."

"Where are you going with this?"

She sighed suddenly looking very small, "He's in love with you, Nikel."

"Lore-" He started to say but she cut him off.

"That night at Jamie's party I figured it out and I confronted him on it. He didn't deny it. Why do you think we fight so much? I have what he wants. He's been in love with you for years and you didn't even realize it. I hate when you hang out with him because I know he likes you."

Nikel was speechless for a minute before something stuck with him, "That's some double standard you have." Were they really going to get into this now? Apparently so.

"What are you talking about?"

"You hang with Jamie all the time and you know the reason we don't get along anymore. So you can hang out with someone who has a crush on you but I can't hang out with Zach."

"Jamie knows I chose you and we're just friends. Zach thinks he can only be your friend, because you're straight. If he thought he had a chance-"

"What are you worried about then? I'm straight. Zach's my best friend."

Loretta smiled sadly at Nikel leaning against the doorframe, all the fight going out of her, "You're so stupid, Nikel. You love Zach."

"I'm straight, Loretta."

She knew this day was coming, but it didn't hurt any less, "Love is genderless, Nikel. You keep holding onto to the fact your straight, but guys don't share beds with other guys that they're just friends with. When you were sophomores you missed two days of school because Zach had the flu and his mother wasn't able to stay home with him, so you did. You never did that for me."

"I love you, Loretta." He tried, taking a step towards her.

She took a step back from him, "But you're not in love with me. You just never realized it." She turned from him to walk away.

"Loretta."She paused, "Are you in love with me?"

"I didn't want to lose you." She shrugged, "It was something Zach always said to me, but I didn't want to believe it. I tried to keep Zach's feeling from you because you were mine, not his, but I just can't pretend being second best is okay anymore. Go find out what's wrong with Zach. I'll just hang out with Jamie."

He approached the girl and kissed the top of her head, "I'll call you."

After she left he looked one last time around his room before walking to Blaine's where the two boys were already waiting for him outside.

"We saw Loretta walk past. She looked upset. Something wrong?"

Nikel shrugged, "I think we broke up."

They looked confused, but Nikel paid them no mind. He just wanted to get to the hospital. He needed to see his best friend. He had a lot of questions that only Zach could answer.

* * *

><p>Stupid cow Loretta, I mean hi!<p>

So many of you guessed Zach but nobody guessed what was wrong with him correctly. Though a few guessed Bulimia or eating disorder…hmm I didn't even think of it being construed that way. Oh well.

I can say nice conclusion deduction to perchance to wake who noticed that Blaine didn't tell anyone that Kurt was in the hospital until morning when Zach said he couldn't sleep because he was told that night. You figured out that Zach was already at the hospital and just so happened to meet up with Kurt there hence his shocked face at first.

I can safely say that nobody is dying anytime soon. Whether someone will die is still up in the air.


	15. Why didn't he tell us?

First I want to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews! You guys keep me writing. Second I want to apologize for the long delay especially after that last cliffhanger; real life came and bit me in the ass. The next chapter will hopefully be out a lot sooner.

I think I'm going to go with the shipname Zackel for NikelxZach I've seen a few use it and it makes me laugh. Though I like Nichary, Zach's real name is Zachariah not Zachary. I wish I would've chose Zachary just to use that one haha.

Anyways, a few shoutouts:

xsilvershadowx: Define drugs? Nothing illegal, I can assure you.

SeptemberLoveStory: Funny when his symptoms started showing up in my writing I asked the same thing. What is wrong with my baby and who do I have to kill to make him better? Thanks now I'm smacking myself going darn I should've did rabies! That would've been awesome.

wolf of infinity: good because though Zach is kinda centered right now Kurt and Blaine will make a comeback of adorable-ness in the next chapter, followed as usual by some angst. Sadly this isn't the last of Loretta. She will return.

soratanaka: I don't know but I have a feeling there will some shock all around.

glistening moon: Zach's fine…as for life threatening well…depends how you look at it.

perchance to wake: I'm really trying for some OC action but Zach's really stubborn. Like dead-set against stubborn, so annoying.

I hate mosquitos: Yay, somebody figured it out. I laughed about Jamie, you think he's a douche now you just wait; he makes Loretta look like a saint.

evil older sister: You are the closest. I give you title as winner in the guessing game!

.Me: No promises : )

scorpionika: Thank you so much. I try to learn with each story I write. I'm glad you –and many others- seem to enjoy it.

LiveLifeWithLove: Nikel can't be straight if Zach's around is the best comment I've ever read. Made my night!

JessicaHereAndNow: I won't try to! The characters kind of write themselves after a while. I have no say!

Alas on with the story! This chapter is a bit short, but explains quite a bit.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee!

* * *

><p>The car ride to the hospital was tense and silent. Nobody spoke and even the radio was kept off. Blaine ended up driving since Nikel was so nervous it looked like he would veer them off the road just by how much he was shaking and Kurt still couldn't drive.<p>

Blaine barely managed to park before Nikel was out of the car and running towards the hospital. Knowing he couldn't grab Kurt's hand in public out of fear of the boy having a panic attack, he just stood close to his boyfriend as they followed their distressed friend into the hospital.

"What do you think happened between him and Loretta?" Kurt asked as they walked.

Blaine shrugged, "Honestly, that girl is so psychotic I can't even imagine. I don't even know what goes through her head most times."

They didn't say anything more. Kurt stiffened when they entered the hospital, he was really sick of being here. Blaine touched his shoulder briefly for reassurance. When they found Nikel in one of the waiting rooms he was talking to Zach's mother. Though she looked distressed, she didn't look shocked. It was like she expected to be there and that was a scary thought.

"Please, Maria, he's my best friend. Let me see him. Hell, at least tell me what's wrong with him?" Nikel begged.

Maria collapsed in a nearby chair, "Nikel please. Zach didn't tell you because he didn't want to worry you."

"A lot of good that did; I'm worried." He snapped throwing up his hands, before freezing, "Wait, what do you mean 'didn't want to tell me?' He knew this would happen-"

She cut him off, "He was aware it could happen. This wasn't his first seizure and it probably won't be his last."

"When was his first seizure?" Nikel questioned, his voice that of steel.

Maria closed her eyes, "A few months ago, he was out of school for a few days. I'm sure you know when I'm talking about."

Kurt bit his lip at the news. Of course, Nikel probably felt terrible, that was right after their fight. Of course, he assumed Zach left because of Nikel not because he was actually sick.

"Maria, what is wrong with my best friend?" He asked his voice strangled.

Kurt and Blaine moved to sit next Zach's mom while Nikel remained standing, his arms crossed, though he looked strangely vulnerable.

She sighed, looking old for her years, which Kurt wanted to put her in her mid-thirties, "Zach has Focal Brainstem Glioma."

"What does that mean?" Blaine was the first to ask.

"He has a Medullary Gliomas Tumor, which is a tumor located in the lower half of his brainstem. To put it simply: Brain cancer."

Nikel sank to the floor, holding his head in his hands, "How-" he tried, but lost his voice for a second, "How long? How long has he known? Tell me what happened!"

"Zach came home from school in the middle of the week claiming he wasn't feeling well. He was stressed and upset so I told he could stay home. He woke me up in the middle of the night crying, because his head hurt really bad then he had a seizure. I took him to the hospital; they did some tests and found the tumor. We debated our options for nearly a month, Zach was so stubborn and I know the doctors were trying to push him to make a decision every minute he went without treatment counted against him. He finally started treatments right after Thanksgiving. We've known about the tumor for two months though." She whispered.

"Two months? That little shit has known for two months and didn't say a word!" Nikel cursed, standing up again. He began to pace. Kurt slipped his hand into Blaine, not caring they were in public; he needed his boyfriend right now.

"Nikel calm down. The good news is patients with Focal Brainstem Glioma has a much better chance of survival verses some of the other brain cancers. Because of where the tumor is located they can't operate, but he's been doing radiation for a month now. He really shouldn't be at school, but when has that stubborn boy ever listened to me," She dropped her voice to mutter, "I'm just his mother after all."

"Please let me see him, Maria." Nikel begged, "Please."

She let out a sigh and stood up, "I can't promise anything, but I can check. I'll be right back."

Nikel took her seat as she walked away, "Cancer." He whispered, his hands shaking.

"He's been tired lately, the odd jittery way he kept twitching his fingers, all the days he was too tired to go to class, the vomiting, his random bursts of anger and odd comments he'd made. The fact he leaves school all the time for 'coffee' or other supplies." Kurt started.

"His sudden forgetfulness," Blaine added, "How did we not see it?" He felt like a terrible friend.

"We didn't know what we were looking for." Nikel replied, looking straight ahead, "When you compile it like that it sounds obvious but some of that is just Zach. He's odd to the core, always has been."

Maria came back, "You can see him, Nikel. He's resting; the seizure took a lot out of him." She seemed to be fighting herself for a minute before adding, "Don't be put off by his appearance, he's hid more than you think from you."

Nodding, he followed Maria's instructions to his room and slowly walked in. It was dark, but the open shades shed some light.

Nikel looked at the machines Zach was hooked up to and shuddered. He, then, shifted his gaze to the boy himself. Seeing Zach's surprisingly bald head make it all the more real and he barely managed to collapse in a chair before he broke down crying.

"_My best friend gave me the best advice  
>He said each day's a gift and not a given right<br>Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind  
>And try to take the path less traveled by<br>That first step you take is the longest stride"_

"I can't lose you, Zach." He whispered, "I can't survive another loss…especially yours. You're my best friend." He buried his face in the bed, "Loretta told me you wanted to be more."

"Don't cry." Nikel looked up to see Zach looking at him, his eyes showing just how tired he was, "It makes you look like shit."

He coughed out a laugh, sniffling, he reached over and grabbed Zach's hand, "Well that makes two of us."

"_If today was your last day  
>And tomorrow was too late<br>Could you say goodbye to yesterday?  
>Would you live each moment like your last?<br>Leave old pictures in the past  
>Donate every dime you have?<br>If today was your last day"_

"Screw you, I always look hot." He replied, mustering up a smirk. It quickly dropped with Nikel's next question.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

He let out a stuttered breath, "Which part? That I was sick or that I was…am in love with you. If it's the first part it's because I don't want to believe it. I don't want to be treated different and I don't want your pity.

"And if it's the second part it's because it didn't matter. You're my best friend, Nike." Zach's eyes started to flutter shut, "And I'll always love you. Damn the radiation must be making me loopy. You'd think they'd give me a day off the stuff because I had a seizure but no, still had treatment. Damn doctors."

Nikel bit his lip, same old Zach, "We'll talk about this tomorrow, Zach. You'll rest now, get your strength up and when you're out of here I'll smack you for being such an idiot on two different levels."

"Sure." He mumbled, shutting his eyes.

Nikel sat there, listening to the beeping. He reached out and grabbed Zach's hand, "I'm not gay Zach, but even I can see how easy we'd get on. You might be worth the label. You're my best friend and I'll always love you. I'm just not sure in what way."

"_Against the grain should be a way of life  
>What's worth the prize is always worth the fight<br>Every second counts 'cause there's no second try  
>So live like you'll never live it twice<br>Don't take the free ride in your own life"_

He leaned forward and carefully kissed Zach's forehead. He laid his head back down on the bed and closed his eyes, emotionally drained.

"We'll talk tomorrow."

"_If today was your last day  
>Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?<br>You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars  
>Regardless of who you are<br>So do whatever it takes  
>'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life"<em>

Nikel woke up to beeping. Nurses and doctors bursted into the room and ushered him out. When the door closed, Nikel fell to the floor crying. He grabbed at his chest for he never felt such an ache in his heart before.

_Let nothin' stand in your way  
>Cause the hands of time are never on your side"<em>

He felt two pairs of arms around him then and Blaine whispering, "Shh, he'll be fine. He'll be fine. Zach's strong."

He clung to the two boys while Maria stood nearby watching the door. Nikel felt terrible for her, Zach was her whole world. She was seventeen when she had him and they've always been close. Her parents disowned her when she got pregnant and Zach's father was never in the picture so Zach really was all she had.

"How long was I in there?" Nikel whispered, slowly gaining control over himself.

"An hour." Kurt replied, "How did he look?"

"Tired." He frowned, "He was bald." He looked at Maria when he said that.

"His hair started falling out while on Winter break. We had a wig made out of his hair so it's barely noticeable he's wearing a wig. Then he has a fake one to wear at night. He really didn't want you guys to know."

"Did he really think he could hide it?" Kurt asked skeptically.

"No, but that didn't stop him from trying. I think he thought if you guys didn't know then it didn't have to be real."

"But it is real." Nikel muttered.

Maria nodded, watching as the doctors exited her son's room as she spoke, "Yes it is."

* * *

><p>Nobody else had been allowed to see Zach while he was in the hospital -much to Kurt's chagrin- and it was Thursday, two days after the incident, before he came back to school. Things became awkward really quickly from that point on.<p>

Of course, the gossip train was reeling as to why he collapsed, but Zach wasn't speaking about it. The only ones who knew the true reason were Nikel, Blaine, Kurt, David, Wes, Sammy and surprisingly Gabriel. He had approached Kurt the day after he collapsed asking him if Zach was alright. Before Kurt could really think he found himself crying telling Gabriel everything that had happened and what they found out. It was an even greater surprise that Gabriel actually showed concern for Zach. Then again, the two had been civil with each other at one point during their high school career.

When Zach returned they could plainly see all the signs they were missing. He was tired, sluggish, his attention was shot to hell –though some might say that was just Zach in general- and he constantly twitching or having muscle spasms. He didn't try to hide when he was throwing up anymore.

They tried to return to a sort of normalcy, but it was hard. They were careful not to mention Zach's fragile condition too often and in return he told them when he leaving for radiation and how he was feeling after. The awkwardness mostly fell between Nikel and Zach. Nikel kept trying to talk to Zach about what Loretta said and what that meant for them while Zach seemed to be pushing Nikel away.

The breaking point came on Friday, as they all sat by the main entrance enjoying each other company before Blaine drove Kurt back to Lima for the weekend; Blaine, of course, staying over.

"So…we meeting up at all this weekend?" Zach asked, while he played a game on his DS.

Nikel frowned, "You should rest, Zach. It's been a stressful week for you."

Zach paused his game and looked up at them, "I'm not saying we should go sky diving, Nike. I was just wondering if we were going to meet for lunch or anything sometime this weekend. Otherwise I'm going to be bored as hell."

"You should rest." Nikel repeated.

The glare Zach fixed Nikel with had both Kurt and Blaine cringing. They stayed quiet knowing they didn't want to be involved in this one.

"You're not my mother, Nike, you're not my boyfriend; you're my best friend. Butt the fuck out. If you're going to lecture me then shut it right now. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to be treated like glass." He stood up and started to pace around.

"You're sick, Zach, you have to understand that." Nikel tried.

"I do, I think I understand it more than you do, it's my body after all. I'd just rather be out living than cooped up in my room all day and night slowly dying."

"You're not dying." Nikel snapped his tone fierce.

"You don't know that and I'd rather enjoy life while I got it than waste it away." He started to walk away, "Don't tell me what to do, Nikel."

Nikel sighed, standing up, "I better go talk to him." The two boys watched him leave to try to calm down the annoyed blonde.

Kurt leaned his head on Blaine's shoulder, "Well that was interesting."

"I don't know what's going on with those two right now but I figure they'll end up either beating the crap out of each other or make out."

"Blaine!" Kurt gasped, sitting up.

He shrugged, "What? Come on, you have to agree with me."

He rolled his eyes, pecking Blaine on the cheek, "Maybe. Come on let's go before they come back and start moping again. Nikel will be mad enough at me when I invite them both to Breadstix with us tomorrow night."

"Oh, Love, you're going to start a war."

Kurt smiled at the pet-name before shrugging, "Zach's right, though. He didn't tell us, because he didn't want us to treat him differently. Now we know I'll make sure he's treated the same. I know how it feels to have people tip toe around you, afraid of setting you off, giving you looks of pity. It doesn't help, sometimes it makes things worse."

Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt, "I don't pity you, Kurt, I'm saddened for what happened to you but I don't pity you."

"Thanks. Now let's get to my house before Dad starts freaking out."

"Zach, wait up!" Nikel yelled.

He didn't listen though. Zach ran into this room and shut the door, locking it for good measure. He threw himself onto his bed suddenly exhausted. He heard Nikel approached the door, try the handle then proceed to pound on it.

"Zach, open up! We need to talk."

Zach burrowed his head further into his pillow, trying to ignore the yelling. After a few more attempts it finally stopped. He breathed a sigh of relief before he heard the door swing open hitting the wall. Groaning he sat up to see Nikel stroll through his doorway, pocketing his set of keys to all the dorms.

"That's abuse of power, Nikel."

"Yeah well it seems the only way to get you to talk to me."

Zach moved to sit with his back against the wall, "I don't want to talk to you Nikel. Every time I do you try to tell me what to do and I'm sick of it. I already have my mom breathing down my neck and my doctors; I don't need it from my best friend. You're supposed to be the one helping me live it up."

"They care about you Zach. I care about you too." He moved to sit next to him on the bed.

Zach threw his hands up to his ears, "I don't want to hear it!"

"Can we talk about this?" Nikel asked, reaching over to remove Zach's hands from his ears. The boy slumped against him, sighing.

"What if I don't want to talk? What if I want things to go back to the way they were?" His voice was muffled since he was leaning against Nikel's chest.

"They can't. I'm not blind anymore. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want to me, Zach."

Zach shot up and glared at Nikel, "You're straight, Nikel. It doesn't fucking matter. I don't know where your delusions are coming from all of a sudden but it doesn't change a damn thing."

"Tell me, Zach."

Zach clenched his jaw and looked straight into Nikel's eye, "I don't want you."

"Bullshit."

Groaning, he stood up and turned to loom over Nikel who was still sitting on the bed, "I don't want your fucking pity, Nikel, don't you get it? You find out I'm sick and then that I have a crush on you. You break up with your GIRLfriend and suddenly want 'try' with you. You're straight; you don't want me, Nikel. You just have some twisted logic that you owe this to me or something. I just don't want to hear it. And another thing-"

Nikel reached up and smacked Zach across the face, "Are you done?"

Zach moved his hand to touch the cheek Nikel slapped before narrowing his eyes into slits, "Did you just slap me? What are you a girl?"

Nikel jumped off the bed and invaded Zach's personal space, "Being sick doesn't give you a free pass to be a bitch."

Zach smirked and leaned back a bit, "Well maybe you like me after all. I mean you always seem to fall for annoying bitches."

"You're so infuriating." He grabbed Zach's face and moved as if to kiss him. Zach pulled back at the last second, drew back his fist and punched his best friend square in the face. Nikel immediately fell to the floor, clutching his face.

"That's how you hit." Zach snapped as he moved over his friend's fallen form and went to lie down in his bed. The punch took all his energy and now all he wanted to do was sleep. He faintly heard Nikel stumble into the bathroom as he relaxed further into his pillows. He was nearly asleep when Nikel opened the bathroom door and flicked off the light. He felt the bed dip as Nikel laid down next to him, much like they always did when he slept over. He smiled faintly enjoying the closest of his best friend and crush for tomorrow would be another day of self-denial.

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><p>Well that was interesting…what did everyone think? Don't be afraid to ask questions, I love answering them! If anyone has any ideas, feel free to say them, I can't promise I'll use them, but I only have the next chapter figured out, after that I'm a bit blank…Also any scenes that weren't written that you wanted to see, just ask I probably have them somewhere or can write them up and put them on my website or Facebook.<p>

Just to be a terrible person; a few words involving the next chapter -in no particular order- of what to look forward too: Blood, Breadstix, Beating, Karofsky, setbacks.

Enjoy your day/night/week (evil smile)


	16. Pain can't get enough Pain

Sorry about the major delay of the chapter. My Beta has been really ill, has been for a while, but it's been bad lately so I'm running without one for now.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! I'm not going to answer any this time since it's been awhile since I updated so I want to get on with the story. I'll answer next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own glee, just OC's.

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><p>"Have you text them yet?" Blaine asked, walking into Kurt's room early Saturday morning. Kurt was sitting on his bed patting his hair to make sure it was all still in place from when he styled it just moments before. Smiling at his boyfriends odd habits he moved to give him a quick peck on the lips. They were definitely getting better at the whole 'Kurt not smacking Blaine after every kiss' thing.<p>

"Define 'them'? I text Zach and told him to bring Nikel. I figured if I text both of them Nikel would flip out and my phone would blow up from the sheer amount of angry responses." Kurt responded, standing up, "Zach, however, is excited. I don't want to ruin his happy mood. He needs it. So we're not going to bring up his sickness or anything negative at dinner tonight, okay?"

"Okay. What time did you tell him to meet us?" He questioned grabbing Kurt's hand and interlacing their fingers.

"Five at Breadstix, why?" They headed down the hall together.

"Oh just wondering how long I have you all to myself." Blaine stopped them, moving his hands to place them on either side of Kurt's waist. A throat cleared just as he was about to move him closer. Jumping apart they turned to see Burt staring at them, trying to fight a smirk.

Moving away quickly from the man's son, he went down the stairs ahead of them, obviously embarrassed.

Kurt turned and gave his dad a pointed look, "Dad. Be nice."

"I let him stay here, Kurt, not sure how much nicer I can get."

Groaning in true teenage fashion, Kurt left to follow his boyfriend, Burt right behind him.

Carole looked up from making pancakes as they entered the kitchen. Kurt immediately took the seat next to Blaine while Burt went to sit across from them next to Finn. Blaine and Finn were in a discussion about football, so Kurt left them to it instead talking to Carole. Even when they weren't focused on each other Blaine had Kurt's hand in his, rubbing his thumb across his skin gently.

"So what are your plans for the day?" Burt asked, drawing their attention.

"Yeah, please go out and do something. Watching you two be disgustingly cute sitting on the couch is well…disgusting." Kurt raised an eyebrow at Finn, who continued, "Not because you're two dudes but because, you know, you're, like, my brother so it's gross. You don't like watching me and Rachel being all you know."

Kurt rolled his eyes, saving Finn from his floundering, "We're going out to dinner with some friends. Don't worry Finn, Blaine and I will probably go to the mall or something."

"Just be careful." Burt interjected. Though Kurt didn't talk about it, Burt knew the boy who originally injured him was still running around town and he couldn't stand if his boy got hurt again.

Kurt wanted to give a sarcastic comment back, but the look in his dad's eyes -the fear- caused him to just nod instead. He knew his dad was just worried about him, they all were. Really didn't make it any less annoying for him though.

The rest of breakfast went by smoothly. Soon Blaine and Kurt found themselves in Blaine's car heading towards the mall, singing along with the radio. As they stopped at a stoplight, Blaine turned and looked at Kurt. The scared boy who first came to Dalton seemed almost like a faraway memory. He really has opened up. Of course there were situations where old fears arose, but the progress he's made was nothing short of amazing.

"Why are you staring at me? The lights green." Kurt teased, faintly blushing.

"I'm just…really happy with you, Kurt." Kurt gave him the most beautiful smile Blaine's ever seen before motioning for him to start driving again. Laughing, he complied.

They reached the mall and Blaine started to realize how bad of an idea this was as Kurt went on and on about all the stores they had to hit.

"Uh Kurt, I really don't like shopping. I'll make a deal with you. We'll go into eight clothing stores but then you have to go into a video game store with me and one of those clothing stores needs to be a sports shop. I need a new Buckeye's jersey."

Kurt pouted, "Fine, let me think for a moment. If I only get seven stores I need to strategize this perfectly."

"Is it really that complicated?"

"Yes, Blaine. Limiting my shopping is a huge crime in the name of fashion."

"I'm sorry, Kurt." He teased, moving to give the other boy a hug. Kurt immediately backed away from him, looking around, eye's wide.

"Are you crazy, Blaine! We are at a mall in the middle of Lima, Ohio. We are not at Dalton. Boys can't hug here." Kurt snapped, mumbling at the end, "At least not without ridicule and probably a beating."

"Breathe, Kurt, I didn't think. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, let's just…head inside."

Blaine hated how jumpy Kurt was then. They had a good morning joking and now Kurt was tense, worried what people could do to him. What people have already done to him. It broke his heart.

As their trip continued Kurt slowly relaxed. The last few stores they went in he was almost back to normal, talking about different designers and future fashion trends.

"That jersey is hideous."

Blaine frowned, looking down at what he was trying on, "It's a football jersey they all look like this."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "It doesn't flatter you at all."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh, "That's not the point of it, Kurt. You should get one."

He laughed harder at Kurt's disgusted face, scrunched up nose and all, "Uh no. I'd wear something from a Wal-Mart before that."

"Oh come on Kurt, live a little. Try one on. I'll make it worth your while."

Kurt didn't answer him though. He was looking beyond Blaine, his back rigid and he was trembling slightly. Confused, he turned to look behind him. A few boys had walked in all wearing Red and Gold letterman jackets Blaine recognized from the football game as McKinley's. They haven't seen them yet.

"Go wait outside, Kurt. I'll just take this off and follow you in a minute."

Kurt nodded and left without speaking, his head low, trying to avoid the notice of the bigger jocks. Once Blaine was sure he got out of the store unnoticed, he immediately went to remove the jersey and put it back.

Kurt kept his head down and stood outside the store away from the window, waiting for Blaine to come out. He should've known better than to go into that store. Of course, they would show up to ruin his day. At least Karofsky wasn't with them.

"S'up fag?"

Startled, Kurt looked up to find Karofsky a few feet away from him, smirking.

'_Beg for it, fag.'_

He shuddered; taking a deep breath he glared back, "What?"

Karofsky's eyes narrowed. He started cracking his knuckles, "You're a long way from your girlie clothes, Fancy. This is the men's area." He took a threatening step towards Kurt, who was too scared to even breathe.

"Is there a problem here?" A mall cop came over looking between the two boys.

Karofsky relaxed his stance, "No, sir, just waiting for my friends."

He turned to look at Kurt, "Are you okay?"

"Fine." He squeaked out, his eyes never leaving Karofsky.

'_It's people like us who make sure natural order remains and little fags like you stay in the closet.'_

Blaine walked out then. Staying close to his boyfriend they walked away, the cop staying by Karofsky to make sure the conflict was over. Kurt spared a glance behind him to see Karofsky looking straight at him. Seeing he had his attention and the guard wasn't looking he moved his hand to slice is across his throat in a very obvious gesture.

'_I will kill you.'_

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked as soon as they were in the car, away from prying eyes and ears.

"Fine, just take me home Blaine." Nodding they drove in silence.

Once home both boys immediately went up to Kurt's room. Kurt collapsed on his bed, quietly crying. Seeing his boyfriend's shoulder's shake with sobs Blaine laid down next to him gathering him up in his arms.

"Shh, it's okay. He's gone now."

They didn't know long they laid there -Blaine holding Kurt- comforting him, but eventually Kurt's phone went off with a new text. Groaning, he extracted himself from Blaine's arms to read it.

"Zach says he'll meet us at Breadstix in a half hour with Nikel kicking and screaming." Kurt read, "When did it get that late? I still have to get ready!"

Blaine watched him get ready. He could still the tension in his posture and he sighed. Wasn't he just thinking this morning how much progress Kurt made? One encounter ruined that. Not just any encounter though Karofsky was dangerous, the main tormentor.

Finally, Kurt turned away from the mirror and gave Blaine a small smile, "Let's go meet the circus."

That statement couldn't have been any more true. They beat the other two boys to Breadstix and quickly snagged the most secluded booth they could find. They ordered their drinks and waited for their friends to arrive.

Zach walked in first. Kurt raised an eyebrow as he slide into the booth across from them, "Why do you have a split lip?"

"Hi! Nice to see you too!," Zach said before smiled evilly, "Got into a fight. You should see the other guy."

Nikel walked in then and they took in the fact he had a black eye.

"Nice black eye. Who did you two fight?"

Zach snorted, "I told you: you should see the other guy. I totally won."

Blaine laughed then, "I knew it. I said one of two options. Though, I was leaning towards the other one honestly."

"What are you talking about, hobbit?" Zach asked.

"Nothing." He replied, innocently, "And stuff it Blondie."

"That sounded convincing." Nikel muttered, "So, Kurt, why did you choose Breadstix?"

Kurt understood what he left unspoken. Since he had a major panic attack the last time he was here why would he want to come back?

"It's open mic night so McKinley jocks rarely show up. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rachel though. She'd do anything to show off."

"Open mic?" Nikel perked up at that.

Zach glared at him, "Don't you dare, you son of a bitch."

"My mother is a nice lady."

Kurt turned to look at Blaine while the two continued to bicker.

"Why did I invite them again?"

Blaine grabbed his boyfriends hand and discreetly kissed it, "Because you're amazing and wanted to cheer Zach up."

"Well I'm regretting it." He replied tuning back into the argument.

"I know you are but what am I?"

There was no way he was going to listen to this for the next hour, "Ladies, you're both pretty now shut up."

That broke the tension and soon things relaxed. They ordered their food and discussed upcoming Regionals. From there they shifted their discussion to classmates.

"You told Gabriel about me." Zach stated more than questioned Kurt.

Kurt looked at the table, sighing, "Yeah, sorry. I was stressed and he asked about you. I figured you two used to be friends or at least tolerate each other."

"I'm not mad. He just came up to me to talk yesterday it was weird. I guess we have you to thank for his personality transplant." Zach teased.

"He's not that bad, guys. I think he just really misses Nathan and blames himself."

"He should." Nikel mumbled, before Kurt could say anything he changed the topics, "Speaking of Nathan, anyone really talk to Sammy lately?"

"He's acting weird again," Blaine replied, shaking his head.

"Think he's using again?"

"Using?" Kurt asked, looking between the boys.

Blaine gave Kurt a weak smile and took his hand, holding it under the table, "Sammy drinks as I'm sure you aware. He also, occasionally, dabbles in drugs. Pot's kind of regular, but sometimes he does cocaine. We've tried to intervene but only Allina can really pull him out of it. He just gets in a funk, I guess."

"Should-Should we have a talk with him or something?"

"Not yet, Kurt. I'll talk to him on Monday and call Allina if need be." Nikel sighed. They collapsed in a dreary silence.

"Well." Nikel stood up, "I'll be right back."

Zach froze a second later, "He better not be doing what I think he's doing."

A voice suddenly sounded over the speakers, "So I'm Nikel and this song is for a certain someone."

"Oh God!" Zach moaned.

"_I set out on a narrow way many years ago  
>Hoping I would find true love along the broken road<br>But I got lost a time or two  
>Wiped my brow and kept pushing through<br>I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you_

_Every long lost dream led me to where you are_  
><em>Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars<em>  
><em>Pointing me on my way into your loving arms<em>  
><em>This much I know is true<em>  
><em>That God blessed the broken road<em>  
><em>That led me straight to you"<em>

"You have to admit, it's a beautiful song."

"Shut up, Kurt." Zach whined, laying his head down on the table.

_"I think about the years I spent just passing through  
>I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you<br>But you just smile and take my hand  
>You've been there you understand<br>It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true."  
><em>  
>Zach listened to the rest of the song in complete silence. The people broke out into applause as the song ended and Zach just shook his head.<p>

Nikel sat back down and looked at Zach expectantly.

"I hate you."

"Thanks." Nikel replied, both glaring at each other.

Kurt frowned, "Well this is awkward so I'm going to butt out now and use to restroom. I'll be back. Zach, please keep Blaine away from the open mic since you did such a wonderful job with Nikel."

"Haha, you're funny...not." He snapped, smiling to show he was joking.

Laughing, he walked to the back of the restaurant where the restrooms were. Trying to the door, he found it locked. Just his luck. Groaning, he leaned against the wall and stared at the ground. They really needed to invest in some better bathrooms. Hearing the door open he barely looked up before he was grabbed and pushed out the back door. Regaining his balance he turned and froze. Standing before him was Karofsky.

Karofsky grabbed him by the arm before he could run and threw him into the side of the building. His head bounced off the concrete and the copper taste of blood filled his mouth. Karofsky came up behind him and held him against the wall, his head scraping painfully against the rough wall.

"You fucking told you stupid little fag. I could see it in that pretty boys eyes when he saw me. He knew. I told you not to tell." Moving away he drew his fist back and punched Kurt in the side.

Letting out a straggled breath he fell to his knees. He closed his right eye as blood from his head wound dripped down his face and into his eye, stinging. Karofsky lifted his foot and kicked Kurt in the stomach, propelling him backwards onto his back. Standing over the fallen boy he brought his foot down hard on his lower ribs, instantly breaking them once again.

Blood bubbled out of Kurt's mouth as he opened it to try to scream. He looked at Karofsky looming over him, but could barely focus on him. It hurt, it hurt so much. He just wanted to sleep. He wanted Blaine.

"You're garbage and I know exactly where you belong." Grabbing the limp boy he dragged him over to the garbage bin and threw him in, "Rot in hell, homo." With that he let the lid shut and ran, getting away from the scene as quickly as he could.

Kurt didn't know how long he laid there. It was January and he could feel the cold seeping into his bones. He was just so tired. It felt vaguely familiar, but at the moment he couldn't figure out why. Where was he? He couldn't remember. He was so cold, so cold and so tired. He wanted Blaine. Why did he want Blaine? Who was Blaine? That was his final thought before his eyes fell shut and his thoughts went quiet.

He regained consciousness when he heard voices. They sounded so far away.

"Why would he come out here?"

"I don't know. Is that blood?"

"KURT! KURT! Are you out here?"

Weakly he kicked out his leg, wincing as it connected with the side of the bin. The noise wasn't nearly loud enough.

"There's blood over here as well." Blaine's voice sounded way closer now. Mustering up his strength he kicked again, a little bit louder this time. His ribs were killing him and the effort it took to breathe was exhausting.

His eyes slid shut for what felt like the last time and a beam of light shown above him. It hurt too much to breathe.

"KURT!"

Blaine sat in the most uncomfortable chair he's ever been in, holding his boyfriends hand, but he refused to move until said boy woke up. The constant beep of the heart monitor was a surprising comfort even if it was annoying as hell. As long as it beeped in its rhythmic manner Kurt was fine.

"When will he wake up?" Zach whined, pacing back and forth.

"When he's ready."

"It's been a week."

"Sit down Zach, you just got out of Chemo." Nikel snapped, pulling Zach down next to him. Blaine ignored the two, too focused on his boyfriend. He was vaguely aware of Burt also in the room or Sammy right outside the door glaring down Gabriel. Those two still couldn't be around each other.

"Come on, Kurt." He whispered, squeezing his hand.

A sudden squeeze back made his jump up from his chair, toppling it over. He didn't care though as bright blue opened slowly. His excitement about his boyfriend waking up soon vanished as Kurt started thrashing around, screaming.

Blaine stepped back as doctors flooded the room, never has he felt so helpless.

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><p>I hope everyone liked it. It didn't quite turn out how I expected but oh well.<p>

It's been decided. Someone will die and I've started writing the chapter. It'll probably appear within the next 3-5 chapters. The chapter is called Russian Roulette. I'll probably post some teasers on my Facebook page.


	17. Dalton: Safe Haven or Hell?

Sorry sorry sorry about the long delay. Real life is kicking my ass as well as working 6 days a week. I just want to sleep whenever I'm home. Once again this chapter isn't Beta'd for those who read my facebook she couldn't get back to me in time so I posted the chapter without her. Hopefully it's not too terrible. Thank you to all who reviewed last chapter and stuck with me through the hiatus hopefully I'll have next chapter out way sooner.

Disclaimer: Don't own Glee just OC's.

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><p><strong>Chapter 17: Dalton: Safe Haven or Hell?<strong>

"How did it go?" Nikel asked as he and Zach sat against the wall a few doors down from Kurt's room.

Blaine sighed and took a seat next to them, "I couldn't get him to come out of the bathroom."

"What did you say to him this morning?" Nikel questioned Zach looking at the blonde boy, who was staring at his dorm door.

"Nothing, I think he had a nightmare. He just ran into the bathroom and wouldn't come out no matter what I did. So I left his some clothes outside the door and got Blaine, but that didn't fix the problem. You'd think he'd sleep better knowing Karofsky's in custody right now."

"Nobody will sleep well until we know for sure he's in jail."

"We can't stay out her all day we have to get to class soon." Nikel mumbled, "We can't force him to come out of his room. We, however, have to go or we'll be late."

Slowly Nikel and Zach got off the floor and made their way to class each glancing at the door housing Kurt as they passed. They just didn't know how to do get through to him. The attack occurred over a week ago and Kurt finally returned to Dalton late last night. Blaine couldn't help, but think maybe it was too early. Disheartened, he got up as well and followed the other two boys for breakfast.

Kurt stood in the bathroom, staring into the mirror, As soon as Zach left he grabbed the clothes that were left for him and started to change stopping when he saw all the bruises and wrapped ribs. He grimaced as he poked a bruise along his side. He was disgusting. Deformed. He didn't belong in such a perfect place as Dalton. Karofsky was right; he was garbage.

He struck his hands out and all the products on his counter fell, scattering all around the floor. He collapsed then, his eyes closed trying to block out the images with little success. When he opened them he was staring straight as his razor. It gleamed in the bright lights of the bathroom. He slowly reached for it. When he touched it he didn't pick it up instead he just rubbed his fingertips across it, almost stroking it. After a few minutes he finally picked it up and brought it close. He felt strangely detached as he stared at the blades.

A knock at his dorm door knocked him out of his thoughts. He froze hoping whoever it was would go away like everyone else before them.

"I can stay out here all day, Kurt; I wasn't planning on going to class anyways." Sammy's voice drifted through, "Also unlike everyone else I'm not afraid to break down the door. I've done it before, ask Gabriel."

After much debate he put the razor on the counter again, put on a shirt and walked to the door. He opened it to see Sammy standing there, looking half-asleep. A bottle of vodka was in his hand; obviously he had no concern of being caught with it.

"Come on." Sammy ordered, stumbling away towards the back of the building. Confused, Kurt followed slowly behind. His eyes never stopped moving, waiting for Karofsky to jump out and attack him.

Sammy led him to a door he never seen before and opened it to reveal a staircase. He proceeded up the steps, Kurt still quietly following behind. After some turns, he opened another door and walked out onto the roof.

"The roof?" Kurt asked, watching Sammy prop the door open before sitting down leaning against the guard rail. Cautiously Kurt went over and sat a few feet away from him.

Sighing, Sammy pulled out a cigarette and took a few drags, "It's quiet. It's somewhere I can go and think and nobody will bother me. Nathan showed it to me. I use to wonder why he didn't just jump instead of…what he did. I figure both had about the same success rate going for them."

Kurt stretched and looked over the ledge. It was about a 3 story drop to the concrete below. He turned back to Sammy, "What is wrong with you? Are you seriously contemplating different ways your BROTHER could've killed himself?"

Sammy shrugged and switched back to the vodka, "Who the fuck cares? He's dead either way. Left me like a fucking pussy. Turned tail and ran." He put the bottle down and stared right at Kurt, "So Kurt are you going to turn tail and run like Nathan."

"What?" The intensity of the stare startled him.

"You remind me of Nathan. Sometimes you have this look in your eyes -especially when you opened the door today- just like he did, like you're going to give up. If you're going to give up then do it already. The longer you wait the more people get to know you and they begin to like you. Then it's just harder for them to let go when you're gone."

"You-you want me to kill myself?" He felt like he had been slapped. Sammy was supposed to be one of his friends.

"No." Sammy snapped out, throwing his bottle across the roof. It smashed against the ledge on the other side, "I couldn't stop Nathan, my own brother, I don't have any hopes of stopping you. I can't lose another person I care about, Kurt. My brother was irreplaceable and he's dead. You may not realize it but you're pretty much irreplaceable to Blaine. Don't destroy him like Nathan destroyed me, destroyed Gabriel."

Sammy unsteadily rose to his feet and staggered his way back to the door, before he paused, "Just a quick hop over the ledge, Kurt, make up your mind."

Kurt watched Sammy disappear, but didn't move. How could he be so cruel? What if he did jump? He closed his eyes as he actually thought about it.

If he jumped Blaine would be alone, having to deal with his boyfriend's suicide like Gabriel. Kurt shuddered, thinking about Blaine turning into Gabriel. Zach would be devastated; Nikel too, probably. Then there was his parents and all of the New Direction...Santana would resurrect him just to kill him herself if he did that and Brittany would be so confused and lost. He stood and leaned over the edge looking at the ground below. A lot of people would miss him. Was that what Sammy was trying to get at?

Sighing he moved away from the ledge and headed back into the dorms. He could make it to the second half of his classes if he went right now. He paused outside of Sammy's room wondering if he should check in on him. He recalled something about Sammy using drugs, but he couldn't really remember. It felt so long ago. Then he remembered the last time he checked in on Sammy and decided against it.

Instead he went into the school and headed towards the cafeteria knowing they were just about to get out.

"Kurt?" He looked to his left to see Gabriel approaching him.

"Hey." He replied quietly suddenly very nervous. He didn't think this through.

"You look…"

"Horrible I know."

"I was going to say exhausted actually."

"Well I spent the beginning of my day talking to Sammy who was probably high as a kite and drunk off his ass."

"Sammy never…dealt with his issues. Will you come with me somewhere after school today?"

"Where?"

"I'm going to visit Nathan." Gabriel replied, looking at something past Kurt's shoulder, "Just meet me here after school if you want to go." With that he strolled away.

Kurt turned around just as Zach reached him.

"Hey Zach. Sorry about this morning-" He was cut off by Zach's arms wrapping around him in a gentle hug.

"This has been the worse week of my life and that's saying something. I was so scared for you. You are never leaving my sights again, do you understand me?"

"Sorry Zach. How are you feeling?"

"How am _I_- Really Kurt. You were unconscious for a week and you're worried about how I am? You are, by far, the strangest boy I know." He pulled back to look at Kurt, "I'm fine, Kurt. I'm almost done with Chemo. They'll probably start in on Radiation or some other crap next. Don't worry about me. Now come on, we have a couple of minutes before class, you need to see Blaine."

With that, he grabbed him by the hand and dragged him off. The look on Blaine's face was priceless as they approached. His whole face light up and a smile stretched across his face. With purposeful strides he moved towards Kurt and grabbed him in a tight hug. Kurt tensed for a second before relaxing into it. This was his boyfriend, familiar and safe.

"Are you okay?" He whispered to Kurt.

"I'm working on it."

Kurt made it through the rest of the day with his friends by his side. Loud noises made him cringe and he even tried to make a run for it at one point but they stuck with him. Finally the school day was over.

"Where are you going?" Blaine asked as Kurt walked towards the front of the building instead of heading towards the dorms.

He sighed, "Gabriel asked if I wanted to meet Nathan."

"Oh." Blaine looked at him with an indescribable look on his face, "Are you sure you're up for it?"

"I think…I think it will be okay. It's something I want to do."

"Okay then. Just…be safe." Blaine approached Kurt and drew him into a hug, "If it gets to be too much…call me or something." He kissed the side of the other boys head, "I worry about you."

"I'll be fine."

He reached the front just as Gabriel looked ready to leave, "Gabriel, wait!"

Gabriel didn't say anything; he just waited until Kurt was near him then continued on his way. Together they walked in silence to the car and the silence remained all the way to the cemetery.

"If you get uncomfortable, Kurt, just tell me and we'll leave." Gabriel said before getting out and leading the way to Nathan's grave.

He leaned down and gently ran his hand over the top of the stone, "You know his parents almost weren't allowed to bury him here."

"Why." Kurt whispered kneeling next to Gabriel looking at the grave. 'Nathan Paul Atra. Loving Son, Brother and Friend. He was taken too soon.'

"Because he killed himself. It's frowned upon you know," Gabriel huffed, "I was at his funeral, it was…awful. His mother started screaming, they had to sedate her. His father just stood there, ignoring his wife, Dalton allowed any students who wanted to go to the funeral a free pass to miss class. It was packed."

"What about Sammy?"

Gabriel looked at him, sadly, "He didn't go. He was placed in six months of involuntary confinement. He was completely catatonic. Of course that was after he tried to jump from the roof of Warwick dorms. Nathan and he use to sit up there together just to talk."

"He…"

"Nobody knew that he tried to jump though. Nikel, Zach and me covered it up saying he just went up there to remember his brother and in his grief got to close to the edge but we know different. The confinement was because he wasn't dealing with Nathan's death well. Still isn't."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Because we're scared for you, Kurt," Was his only reply, "Nobody could save Nathan. I should've known something was wrong but I wasn't there when Nathan needed me the most. I was off messing around with Jamie while my boyfriend hung himself. I won't feel helpless this time." They stayed out there for another half hour, Gabriel telling him stories he could remember off the top of his head about Nathan, Nikel and Zach. They left the cemetery in a surprisingly good mood and the ride back wasn't nearly as awkward as the ride there. Kurt actually found himself relaxing.

"I'll see you later, Kurt." Gabriel nodded at him before leaving to head towards Maxstoke dorms to change before dinner started. Once he was out of sight Kurt headed towards Warwick, knowing Blaine would probably be there waiting for him.

"Wow you do get around, don't you."

Kurt turned to see Jamie approaching him, a scowl on his face.

"Excuse me?"

"Well you're dating Blaine aren't you? Yet you hang all over Zach and getting back from a date with Gabriel isn't that a little obvious."

"Aren't you supposed to be Gabriel's friend? We were just hanging out."

"You're a little slut, Kurt. Stay away from Gabriel he doesn't need your fucked up shit." Jamie moved to stand right in front of Kurt, "Trust me when I say I can make your life a living hell here. I liked you better when you were in the closet. Quiet and out of the way. I rule this school; don't let anyone tell you different."

"St-stay a-a-away from me." Kurt stuttered out backing up a few steps.

"Listen Hummel, if you don't butt out I'll ruin you." Jamie smiled and it looked all wrong on his face, "I'll take care of you like I took care of my brother and like I took care Nathan."

Kurt was shaking, his breath was coming out in quick little puffs and he could feel a panic attack rising. What did Jamie mean? Nathan…killed himself.

"JAMIE!"

Jamie took a few steps back and turned around. Kurt, who collapsed on the floor, looked up to see Loretta with the scariest expression he had ever seen on her face.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? He just got out of the hospital!"

"I'm just joking with him. He's one of Nikel's friends anyways. He can take a joke."

"Leave him alone, Jamie."

"Why do you care? Nikel dumped your ass."

"I broke up with Nikel thank you very much. I came here because you asked me to hang out with you, not make fun of Kurt. I like Kurt; he's feisty, so leave him alone."

"Fine." Jamie said easily before looking back at Kurt. The look in his eyes belied his words, "Come on Loretta, I'll take you out for dinner instead of eating here and you can tell me how horrible Nikel is."

She gave Kurt a tentative smile before following the red head out of the room. Shaking Kurt barely managed to stand up but then he was running. Running faster than he ever had, his ribs screaming in protest. Instead of going to his own room he ran to Blaine's and managed to knock on the door.

He was lucky Blaine opened the door instead of Sammy because he rushed him, throwing his arms around Blaine's waist and just sobbing. Blaine moved them backwards onto the bed and laid there as Kurt curled up beside him still crying.

They laid there for an immeasurable amount of time; Kurt crying while Blaine quietly rubbed his back and cooed soft words in his ear. Finally he calmed down enough to speak.

"Why does the world hate me?" He whispered, tearing still in his eyes.

"It doesn't. You have a lot of friends who care about you: Nikel, Zach, Sammy, the Warblers, the New Directions, Santana and Brittany. I care about you, Kurt. One person who's a scared little boy shouldn't even be on the radar compared to all the people who love you."

Kurt knew Blaine was talking about Karofsky, but he pretended he was talking about Jamie. There was something really wrong with that kid and he knew Nikel knew something about it. He couldn't tell Blaine though. He didn't quite believe it himself.

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><p>I know not much Nikel and Zach in this chapter. They'll be next chapter as well as more Blaine and Kurt. Also Russian Roulette chapter is coming up, it'll be interesting.<p>

I told you, Jamie is about ten times worse than Loretta. Now it's getting fun.


	18. The evil known as Jamie

Thank you everyone who's stuck by with through the long months of no updates. I'm ,hopefully, back for good now. I have no beta for the moment but am in the works of getting another one of my cousins to take over. We'll see how that goes.

I want to give a special thanks to the people who messaged me and wished me happy holidays and to check up on me. It really meant a lot and I'm sorry for not replying back. I wasn't in a good place at the time.

There's a lot of talking in this chapter and not much action, that will come in the next chapter. So without further ado here's chapter 18 of Broken Bird sing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

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><p><strong>Chapter 18: The evil known as Jamie.<strong>

Kurt slept in Blaine's room. They didn't talk any further that night nor did they talk in the morning before Kurt left to get ready in his own room. He carefully entered his room; he didn't need to catch Zach wandering around his boxers again. He was in luck; Zach was lying in bed -in appropriate Dalton attire- playing his DS. The only thing askew was he wasn't wearing a wig, his bald head gleaming under the room's light.

"Sleep well?" Zach asked, looking up from his game with a lewd smirk, "Or did you not sleep?"

Kurt scoffed, "Yes we slept, Zach, you're just a giant pervert."

"I am not! I'm a healthy teenage boy. Wait…yeah I'm a pervert."

Before Kurt could answer, music suddenly started playing. Sighing, Zach grabbed his phone with one hand and threw it across the room to land on Kurt's bed without even looking at it.

"Who's calling?" He questioned, moving to grab his uniform to get ready for the day.

"I don't know. My mom, Drew, Clayton, Nikel- it really doesn't matter. They're all bugging the hell out of me."

"Are Drew and Clayton your brothers?"

"What?"

"You said once you had three brothers- um…"

"Oh yeah, well, technically no. I'm an only child, but Drew and Clayton are like brothers to me. Drew is Jamie's older brother. You've heard about that?" At Kurt's nod he continued, "And Clayton is Nikel's older brother. When I first started hanging out with Nikel they took me under their wing and treated me like part of the family. My third 'brother' is Kevin. My uncle came to live with us after my dad walked out for a few years. Kevin was 5 years older than me and was the coolest person I ever knew. He moved to England 7 years ago to live with his mom. I haven't seen or heard from him since."

He grew quiet for a minute before shaking his head, "Anyways, Clayton and Drew have been calling every hour, I swear, bugging me about how I'm feeling. I can't stand it anymore; I feel smothered!"

"I know the feeling." Kurt replied, with a snort, "Just remember they mean well."

"Something you tell yourself every day, huh?" Zach teased before tilting his head, "So how was visiting Nathan yesterday? I didn't see you when you came back."

Kurt stiffened his back at the reminder of Jamie's threat. Maybe he would ask Nikel about Jamie. Something wasn't right. Of course, he would have to try to get Nikel alone. And since Nikel has taken to shadowing Zach around like a lost puppy it was easier said than done.

"It was fine. Gabriel really isn't that bad. You can tell he really loved Nathan."

Now it was Zach's turn to snort, "Yeah, yeah. Finish getting ready. We have school to go to, you know."

20 minutes later, they met Nikel and Blaine right outside the dorm room. Together, the four boys headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. As they walked, Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Smiling at his boyfriend, he squeezed back, letting Blaine know he was okay. At Dalton, he had nothing to fear. The boys here wouldn't judge them for their relationship. They were supportive.

'I'm safe here.' He thought as they entered the cafeteria. His eyes fell onto Jamie against his will and he barely withheld a shudder. Well, he used to think he was safe. He quickly looked away before Jamie could look up and meet his gaze. He didn't want to test Jamie's threat.

The school day went by in a blur of classes and homework. After the last class finally got out the boys found themselves at the library.

"I hate this place. It smells and you have to quiet and I can't do that." Zach whined as Blaine and Nikel went to find some books.

"Yes, I can see how you got kicked out last year." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Seriously though, why are we here? The project isn't due until April. It's January. This is just torture."

"Because, Zach, if we wait we will have to fight the massive crowds of procrastinators the last week before its due." Blaine replied, dropping three books on the table.

Apparently Dalton's history class did a huge final every year that took over the whole second semester. The freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors were all given a war. From there a group of 3 to 4 people took a theme from their particular war and had to write a paper and do a project on it. There was a big presentation in April when its due.

"But I want to be a procrastinator." He continued to whine, "I'm getting hives just from being in here. I'm allergic."

"What exactly are you allergic to?" Kurt asked, "Books? Work? Having to use your brain?"

"The third one. Definitely that one. I don't like using that. It hurts my head. Like there's a tumor in there or something. Oh wait…"

"You're not funny, Zach. I'm going to go find another book." Kurt muttered getting up. As Zach continued to complain to Blaine about how useless studying was, Kurt figured it was the only time he could get Nikel alone.

He found Nikel staring at a bunch of books about cancer, muttered to himself. His finger moved up and down the bindings looking for a particular title.

"Isn't your project on the Civil War?" Kurt asked, making Nikel jump.

"Yeah, I know. I have some books here." He lifted up his arm showing the two books in his hand, "I just…want to know more about Zach's condition. That way I'll know the signs better. I can help him."

"Can't fault you for that. You really do care about Zach, don't you?"

He sighed, "I always have. I just-" He leaned against the bookshelf, "It's something Loretta told me when she was yelling at me. I have to find out if we're supposed to be something more than just friends. I've always loved Zach, I never realized how much until Loretta threw it in my face. I really am dense."

"That's the conclusion everyone's come to."

Nikel laughed, moved away from the bookshelf to go back to the civil war section. Kurt followed him nervously. It was now or never.

"Nikel...what did Jamie think of Nathan?"

Nikel stopped his browsing and turned to look at him contemplating, "Jamie didn't like him much, I suppose. Gabriel was always around him. Jamie was jealous. I think Jamie blamed Nathan for Gabriel getting kicked out of his house. Gabriel comes from a very prestigious family." Nikel groaned, "I don't really like talking about my cousin, okay?"

"Why though?" he pushed, "Nobody likes talking about Jamie. Why?"

"We don't get along. Jamie always has to have his way. He hated that I was dating Loretta; he always had a crush on her so he made up something to try to drive her away. Of course he was actually right about it."

"That comment about Zach liking you, right?"

"Exactly. Just stay away from Jamie, Kurt, he's bad news. Trust me." He looked at Kurt closely then, "Did he say something to you?"

He shifted uncomfortable. Nikel's eyes narrowed, "Tell me, Kurt. This is important."

"I came back from the cemetery with Gabriel. He left and I was headed towards the dormitories when Jamie stopped me. He just made some comments and left. That's all."

"What kind of comments?" The steel in Nikel's voice made him take a step back.

"I don't know something about me getting around hanging out with Blaine, Zach, and Gabriel. I'm sure it was nothing. I'm just…nervous after the whole Breadstix incident."

"Don't keep stuff like this from us. We can't help you when you hide shit. Damn it!"

"Are you mad at me or Zach?"

"Both of you, you hide things. We didn't know you were on medication for PTSD until you passed out in a parking lot and we didn't know Zach had cancer until he collapsed in school. How can we help if we don't know what's wrong? You both pretend things are fine when they're not."

He remembered Gabriel's words from the cemetery yesterday _'Because we're scared for you, Kurt, nobody could save Nathan.' _

That's what it came down to. The fear if he doesn't do enough he'll lose somebody again. Kurt couldn't fault him for that…even if he was acting completely insane.

"He told me I was better off staying in the closet." Kurt admitted. It wasn't much but telling Nikel he thought about Jamie being involved with Nathan's death would've been too much.

Nikel cursed, "That little fucker. Stay away from Jamie, far away."

"Don't need to tell me twice."

"Come on the others are probably wondering where we are." He started heading towards their table, "Kurt, you should tell Blaine. He worries about you."

As they headed back, Kurt glanced around to see Jamie and Gabriel sitting at a table working on some homework. Gabriel raised his hand and did a quick wave which Kurt returned. He withdrew his hand quickly at Jamie's glare.

"Didn't find any books?" Zach asked as soon as they sat down.

"Huh? Oh I decided to just look through the ones Blaine already got."

"Careful, Kurt, you're starting to sound like me with your forgetfulness."

"There's no way I could ever sound like an insane, ranting blonde."

Zach looked at Nikel, "You call yourself boyfriend material, defend me."

Nikel rolled his eyes, "You said and I quote _'_you're not my mother, Nike, you're not my boyfriend; you're my best friend. Butt the fuck out.'I shall defend nothing."

"One: that was about you telling me what to do. Two: I didn't say you were my boyfriend but you're trying to convince me to be your boyfriend and this isn't helping you case."

"Somehow I think you'll survive."

They spent another hour in the library before heading back to the dorms.

"So we're going to drag Sammy kicking and screaming out to play Call of Duty with us, you in?"

"As promising as that sounds no thanks. I think we'll watch a movie. You up for that, Kurt?"

"Sure, see you boys later."

Grabbing Kurt's hand, Blaine led him to his dorm room. Sammy was lying on his bed, wide eyed starring at the ceiling.

"Nikel and Zach are going to come in here and drag you out to play CoD."

Sammy groaned, "I don't feel like being dragged, I'd rather walk out on my own free will. See you two later…don't do anything on my bed."

He was out the door before they could reply. Kurt went over and laid down on Blaine's bed while he browsed his shelves for a movie.

"Any input?"

"Comedy?"

"Easy A wins." After putting the movie in Blaine plopped down on the bed next to Kurt. Kurt withheld a sigh; he knew he'd have to make the first move. Blaine was afraid of scaring him off ever since the incident at Breadstix as they liked to call it. Shimming himself down, he rested his head on Blaine's chest. Immediately, Blaine's arms came up to wrap around him bring him in close. Blaine finally spoke about 20 minutes in.

"So what did you and Nikel have to talk about?" He asked trying to sound nonchalant.

"What?"

"You don't have to tell me. You two were just gone for a long time and…" He trailed off.

"I wanted to talk to him about Jamie." Kurt whispered, snuggling in closer to his boyfriend, "He made some…comments and I wanted to ask Nikel about him. Jamie told me I should've stayed in the closet. I don't understand. How can he say that when his best friend is gay?"

Blaine tightened his arms around Kurt, "I don't know, Kurt. Jamie's always been a jerk for as long as I've been here at least. He doesn't like anyone beating him at anything. Whether it's Nikel getting Loretta instead of him, or somebody replacing him as Gabriel's best friend Jamie has always had to be the center of attention."

"Great." He muttered. They watched the rest of the movie in silence. Afterwards they got up to join the rest of boys in the common's room. They were still playing Call of Duty.

"Want to play a round Blaine? Kurt?" Zach asked, his tongue sticking out in concentration.

"Sure," Blaine replied.

"I'm going to go to my room and check my emails. Santana supposed to email me a video of a number they did in Glee."

He went back to his room and powered on his laptop. First thing he saw was an email from Santana, but it was the one below it that caught his interest. Who was Bentley216? He clicked on it. As soon as it opened he jumped out of his seat and slammed his laptop shut. Too bad the words were already etched into his brain.

'**You stupid little bitch. Watch your back, you'll get yours soon. You tell, you die.' **

Shaking he moved and sat down on his bed. Jamie, it had to be Jamie. But why?

First Nikel's words came back to him, _'__We don't get along. Jamie always has to have his way.'_

Then Jamie's, _'__Listen Hummel, if you don't butt out I'll ruin you. I'll take care of you like I took care of my brother and like I took care of Nathan.'_

It didn't make sense. It just didn't. He looked back at his closed laptop and took a sharp intake of breath. No way. It hit him like a ton of bricks. He remembered what Gabriel said at the coffee shop all those months ago and broke down crying. He understood now. Poor Nathan.

'_I was no better than those homophobes that sent him those emails and threatening messages.'_

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><p>So Jamie is pure evil. Either the next chapter or the one after that will be the Russian roulette chapter. We'll see how it goes. Also for anyone who follows my Facebook page. I posted a short story about Nathan's funeral. It gives a bit of insight on what happened at the funeral with Sammy and also with Jamie.<p> 


	19. Still you said forever part 1

So once again sorry about the delay in updates. This chapter took a long time to write and was draining for me. Its fluffy in the beginning and ends in a death. Welcome to the first chapter of what is dubbed as the "Russian Roulette Chapter." I renamed it for something due to some changes I made.

I hope you all will enjoy the chapter sadness and all. The first part is Beta'd but the second half isn't due to a time crunch to get it out.

crowned queen of bitchland: Can I crawl into my story and strangle Jamie? We both can, that sounds like fun. I hate that little shit. You'll hate him even more later.

Sofia Michelle: I learned a lot time ago teachers are never around where you need them. It's not all their fault, the boys aren't exactly running to them to ask for help. Trying to solve things themselves will just end in heartache. And for the link to Nathan's funeral: www. Facebook No1schizo you'll have to take out the spaces. It's my facebook page, just look under the notes and you'll find it. If you can't let me know and I'll try to send you the document itself.

gleekgurrl: For your questions: I can't tell you who all dies as much as it pains me to say. You'll see a little more what happened to Nathan in this chapter hopefully I did it right so everyone understand if not there's another side story I wrote to understand Jamie's character better that I could post I suppose. As for your last two questions you'll learn in this chapter what Gabriel will do to Jamie. I have to admit it's not nearly enough for all the heartache Jamie will cause in this story.

Well I'll have second part up as soon as I'm able; I'm currently writing it. For previews and other news on this story visit my facebook. I don't think you have to like the page to be able to read the side stories I have written but I'll check into that to make sure. This chapter will make a bit more sense to those who read Nathan's Funeral but it's not necessary. I explained throughout this story the main points of Nathan's Funeral. If enough people want to read it and don't want to bother with facebook I might post it on here (Not in this story but as a different story) along with a few others.

Well I'll leave you all to your reading. Enjoy and please nobody shoot me. This has been planned since chapter 1. The scenarios changed but the end result was the same.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or the song 'I'd lie' by Taylor Swift.

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><p>Kurt clicked the print button without even looking at the email. They all pretty much said the same thing anyways. Horrible words about killing himself or leaving before something bad happened to him. All from Bentley216. It was now the beginning of March and the number of emails he received from this person totaled 15. Getting about two a week he stopped reading them after the 3rd one. He got nervous every time he opened his email and saw one of those emails sitting there waiting for him and he knew the others were worried about him.<p>

The boys rarely left him alone, even Gabriel tried to hang out with him at least once a week, but they didn't know about the emails. They thought it was leftover trauma from being attacked by Karofsky. He didn't want to tell them, they were worried enough about him and he couldn't be sure it was Jamie sending them.

Getting up he grabbed the piece of paper, folded it without looking at the inked words and put it with the rest in his desk drawer. Any one of the boys will be in soon to hang out with him; keep him from being alone.

He barely laid down on his bed when there was a knock on the door. He groaned, "Come in."

He cracked open an eye to see Blaine walking in and closed them again. He felt the bed dip before Blaine's arms wound around him. He was getting better about physical contact. He knew Blaine and the other boys here wouldn't hurt him. Now, he only flinched at really loud noises or if he managed to catch the eye of Jamie. His ribs didn't hurt too badly anymore and the bruises on his neck had long since healed. Besides the awful emails he was receiving Kurt was finally feeling like a normal person again.

"How was your R.A meeting?" Kurt asked leaning his head on Blaine's shoulder.

"Fine, with only a few more months of school there's a lot to go over to prepare for next year. We have to start finding sophomores to take over Junior R.A duties for next year. It's a pain. At least I don't have to worry about mandatory Warbler practices any more…though it would've been nice to win. Wes says they're having a little get together tomorrow to sing, though, for anyone who wants to come."

They lost Regionals to New Directions last week and the Warblers were still pretty sour about it. Since they didn't have any more competitions for the year they cut the meetings back to just once a month and some impromptu meeting just to sing together. Though Kurt was sad to lose he was happy for his friends; he knew they needed a big win so they wouldn't be on the bottom of the food chain anymore at McKinley.

"There's always next year for us. The good thing about being juniors, I suppose." Kurt replied, snuggling closer to Blaine.

He felt Blaine's lips press to the side of his head for a brief second before he spoke, "So how are you feeling today?"

"Fine, like I told you this morning. Between you and Zach I'm surprised I can go the bathroom without being followed." He paused, "Oh wait, scratch that Zach tried to follow me yesterday and I slammed the door in his face."

Blaine snorted and buried his face in Kurt's hair to keep from laughing. That did sound like something Zach would do. The doctors switched his medication around so he had more energy but they made him loopy at times…well more loopy than he already was.

Kurt sat up, moving so he was straddling Blaine and glared at him, "Are you laughing at me?"

Blaine grabbed him gently by the neck and moved his down so he could give him a quick kiss on the lips, "Never."

"Liar." Kurt mumbled, moving to kiss Blaine again. This one was longer and the boys broke apart to breathe.

"Well if this is how you're going to punish me for laughing then I'll have to do it more often."

"Stop talking or I'll leave." Kurt grumbled catching the other boy's lips again.

"My eyes, they burn!" Groaning the two boys broke apart to look over at Zach in the doorway his eyes being covered by his arm.

"Can I look now? Is everyone decent?"

Kurt moved so he was no longer on top of Blaine and leveled a glare at Zach, "You are the worse roommate ever."

Zach slowly moved his arm away from his eyes and ventured into the room, "I am an awesome roommate. I am also a cockblock." He plopped down the bed and moved so Kurt was in between him and Blaine, "This is cozy. What are we doing tonight?"

Kurt turned his head to glare at Zach only to see he looked like a kicked puppy. With a sigh, he moved his hand down to grab Blaine's then moved his head so it leaned on Zach's shoulder. "I don't know Zach, what _are_ we doing tonight?"

"Well I thought we'd have a lovely dinner by candlelight, follow by some soothing music, maybe-"

"I already don't like where this is going." Blaine butted in, "Is there a Plan B?"

"I don't like Plan B. That one's Nikel approved. Watch a movie and do homework. Boring!"

"Zach?"

"Yeah Kurt?"

"We're going to watch a movie and do homework."

"Damn."

"Homework won't kill you, Zach." Nikel stated, walking into the room only to stop dead, "Well sorry to interrupt…whatever this is."

"I love Kurt and Blaine; I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Zach deadpanned before getting up and making his way over to Nikel, "I'll finally agree that you don't want to date me out of pity if you don't make me do homework."

"Wow, you're really desperate what kind of homework do you have?"

"Physics," He made a face, "I don't brain well."

"You don't brain well…yeah that's pretty obvious." Kurt grumbled sitting up pulling Blaine with him.

"Sorry, Zach, I'll just have to take my chances that you'll change your mind eventually."

"You all suck."

"Oh come on Grumpy, you have a brain it can't be that hard to use it."

"You're mean Nikel, has anyone ever told you that?" Zach pouted.

"Come on lets go get dinner." Blaine announced getting up and holding out his hand to help Kurt up, "I have a feeling this could take a while." He kept his grip on Kurt's hand as he led him out of the room knowing the other two boys would follow.

"Come on, Zach."

"No, you're mean!" Zach whined stomping his foot like a child.

"Real mature, Zach."

"See you're mean."

"Will you come with if I let you hold my hand?" Nikel sighed, holding out his hand.

"Yea!" Zach ran forward and latched onto Nikel's hand, "Let's go!" He pulled on Nikel and led him out of the room, swinging their hands between them like a little child.

"You're a dork, Zach."

"Yep! Now come on, we have to beat Kurt and Blaine to the cafeteria and they got a head start."

They took off running down the hall to catch up with Kurt and Blaine. Together the four entered the cafeteria and took a seat at the closest table. Blaine and Nikel got up to go get food for the four of them. As soon as they were out of earshot Kurt looked at Zach.

"So why aren't you two dating yet?"

"Because Nikel has this misplaced guilt going on and once I'm better he'll realize he's straight and won't want me. I'd rather not ruin what we have."

"You're an idiot, Zach."

He just shrugged and looked where the boys were waiting in line, "This is enough for me. I have my friends, Nikel cares about me and isn't pushing me aside every other day, and hell even Gabriel is tolerable."

"Thanks, I tolerate you too," A voice to the right of them said. Zach grimaced as Gabriel took a seat next to Kurt.

"I tolerate you, but that doesn't mean I want you around. Don't you have a little minion to be sitting with and annoying."

"You are an uncultured swine, Zach, but Kurt makes up for that and I can put up with your presence so I'm able talk to him."

"I'm sorry Gabriel did you say something? I can't hear you over the sound of your ego inflating."

"I'm not going to engage you in pointless banter. I'm not Loretta."

"Now that girl's a bitch."

"Something we can agree on and if you must know Jamie is out with her so I thought I'd sit with Kurt who's my friend."

"Oh goody, Gabriel," Nikel griped, sitting next to Zach while Blaine sat on the other side of Kurt.

"Be nice you guys, please." Kurt begged. He looked at each boy until they nodded their consent before turning to Gabriel, "You too."

"Of course," He held up his hands in a pacifying gesture.

"Good." Kurt nodded, "Where's Sammy?"

"It's getting close to the anniversary of Nathan's…passing." Gabriel said carefully.

"He tends to withdraw for a while around this time." Nikel added, "I'll check up on him later and make sure he eats."

"I see he hasn't changed." Gabriel grumbled.

"Don't you and Jamie have poor people to talk down to?" Nikel asked with an eyebrow raised in Gabriel's direction. Everybody noticed Kurt stiffen at the question. Nikel turned his gaze to him, "He isn't harassing you again, is he?"

"Excuse me, Jamie did what?"

"You didn't tell him?" Nikel turned his astonished gaze from Kurt to Gabriel, "Jamie told Kurt he should stay in the closet and insinuated he was a whore hanging out with Blaine, Zach and you."

"Nikel…don't."

"No, Kurt." Gabriel interrupted, "What did Jamie say to you? Tell me."

"I don't know it was a couple of months ago after we came back from visiting Nathan at the cemetery. It's nothing."

"Tell. Me."

Gabriel's eyes bore into Kurt's as if he could see the truth in them. After a few tense seconds of staring Kurt realized Gabriel wasn't going to drop it and sighed.

"He told me to stay away from you, that you didn't need my problems dragging you down. That I was better in the closet." Kurt was shaking faintly and Blaine brought his arm up to wrap around his boyfriend's shoulders in support.

"What else?"

"Gabriel, it's fine. He hasn't spoken a word to me since."

"But he's done other things." At Kurt's surprised look he continued, "You wouldn't have specified spoken to you unless he was bothering you another way. Well?"

Kurt couldn't meet Gabriel's eyes or anybody else's. He had to tell them. This was his one chance. He couldn't keep lying. He found the truth tumbling out before he could have another thought about it.

"I've been getting emails from someone right after he talked to me. I don't know if it's him though."

"You didn't tell me that!" Blaine scolded, pulling Kurt so he could wrap his arms around him more securely.

"I don't read them, I just print them so I have -I don't know- proof, then get rid of them. I'm fine; it's fine."

"You'll show us these emails as soon as we're done eating." Nikel said firmly, returning to his dinner in silence. Everyone else followed his example with the tension hanging in the air.

Too soon dinner ended and they all trekked back to Kurt's room to look at the emails. Even Gabriel. Quietly, he handed them the pieces of paper then laid down on the bed; his head buried in his pillow. He could hear the shuffling of papers as the boys read the emails and passed them around.

He soon felt another weight on the bed and Blaine's soft voice near his ear, "I wish you didn't hide things from us, buts it's okay. We'll figure this out. I love you."

Kurt sat up and curled up next to Blaine who moved his so he was practically in his lap. He snuggled closer to his boyfriend. Blaine always had a way of making him feel safe.

"We'll find out who sent you these emails, Kurt," Nikel promised, "They'll pay. I won't let this be like last time." They all thought about the emails Nathan had received those years ago.

Kurt shivered as Jamie's words came back to him _'I'll take care of you like I took care of my brother and like I took care Nathan'_

"What did you just say?" Blaine asked, moving so he could see Kurt's face. Kurt didn't even realize he had spoken out loud.

He swallowed thickly, already feeling tears in his eyes, "The last thing Jamie told me before Loretta showed up to get him to leave me alone. I've been thinking about it weeks now, I just can't image he meant it how I took it. It isn't possible."

With all eyes on him, he looked at his bed and repeated the words that haunted him for the last 5 weeks, "If you don't butt out, I'll ruin you. I'll take care of you like I took care of my brother and like I took care of Nathan." He looked up them his lips trembling, "He couldn't mean it like that. He couldn't have, right?"

Gabriel looked at the piece of paper in his hand then at the group, "I'll be right back." Dropping the paper like it burned him he took off running out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Zach sat down on his bed, suddenly exhausted. He didn't even make a comment when Nikel sat down next to him wrapping an arm around him and leaned them so they were both laying down, Nikel spooning Zach. Blaine mimicked the movement with Kurt.

"I thought we were done with all this." Zach whispered, allowing Nikel to comfort him.

On the other side of the room, Kurt was doing the same.

"It's going to be okay," Blaine whispered over and over again, rubbing Kurt's arm. He wasn't sure who was comforting who at this point.

A knock jarred them out of their thoughts. Nikel got up and opened the door allowing Gabriel back in. Kurt and Blaine sat up as well as Zach. In Gabriel's hands was a box. He sat on the ground and put the box out in front of him the others followed suit.

"I was going to burn them to symbolize their words couldn't hurt anymore, but I never did." He opened the box to reveal a bunch of pictures of him and Nathan as well as little gifts and some notes, "I printed out the emails they found on Nathan's computer before they could erase them. I wanted to see what people said that drove Nathan so far." He pulled one of the notes out and opened it, "Sender Bentley216…I'm going to kill him."

"Can you be sure its Jamie though," Nikel asked wanting to be sure.

"Jamie's dad always talks about Bentley cars. He's a car fanatic. It's too much of a consequence to ignore." Gabriel practically growled. He grabbed the box and stood up. "Jamie and I are going to have a little chat next time I see him. I'm so sorry, Kurt."

"It's not your fault. You're allowed to have other friends," He replied weakly.

"I'm taking these," Gabriel said as he grabbed the stack of emails then took his leave. They sat in silence for a minute before Nikel broke it, "I hope Gabriel doesn't kill Jamie…because I want my chance with that little shit. I always knew he was trouble."

"Calm down." Zach mumbled rubbing his temple with his hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, just a headache."

"The stress probably isn't good for you. Come on lay down."

Grumbling Zach let Nikel usher him back to his bed, "I'm fine, Nikel, no need to freak out."

"Yeah you're fine like Kurt's fine. Between the two of you we never know the truth."

Nikel was fussing over Zach for a minute before he became fed up and grabbed Nikel dragging him onto the bed. Moving he rested his head on Nikel's chest and let out a content sigh.

"You stay there; I'll sleep."

"Whatever, dork."

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Those two were impossible.

"Will you stay tonight?" Kurt asked, getting up to change out of his day clothes.

"Wouldn't dream of being anywhere else," They got ready and climbed into bed. It was still really early barely seven, but everyone was emotionally exhausted. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and drew him close. Together they drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Gabriel marched back to Maxstoke. Jamie sat in their common room with Loretta and a few other house mates. Gabriel walked just inside the room and snapped at everybody, "Everybody out. I need to talk to Jamie. Now!"

Quickly the people of their house fled from the room. While Damien was the R.A of Maxstoke, Gabriel was their king. His dad had a lot of pull at Dalton and nobody wanted to get in his way. As soon as the last person fled back up to their dorm room he turned his furious gaze back to Loretta and Jamie.

"Loretta, leave."

"You don't control me, Gabriel.

"Get the fuck out, Loretta. This is between Jamie and me." Gabriel grounded out.

She looked at Jamie for a moment then Gabriel. Finally she nodded and gracefully stood up. "Fine, I'll leave this time. Jamie, I'll see you later." With that she made her way out of the room slamming the doors shut behind her.

"Well thank you for ruining my evening. How can I help you?" Jamie snapped, raising an eyebrow in Gabriel's direction, "Did spending your day with the likes of those peasants so horrible you had to ruin my day as well."

"I just came from hanging out with Kurt and the rest; we found something interesting."

Gabriel strolled forward and threw the stack of papers in his lap. He paced the room as Jamie flipped through the pages set before him. His face didn't change from its polite boredom look.

"Fascinating, I see they're having a bad day over at Warwick." Jamie drawled, "So what exactly am I supposed to be looking at?"

Gabriel kept silent instead he watched as Jamie finally flipped to a page from Nathan, this time his face paled slightly. Interesting, just what he was looking for.

"Why are you showing these to me?" Jamie's face smoothed back to a neutral look.

"You're not stupid, Jamie. Funny these emails started popping up right after you threaten Kurt, huh?"

"I don't like your tone. Almost sounded like you were accusing me of something," He scrunched his nose up as he looked at the solo email again, "I thought you burned all the emails you saved from Nathan."

"I am accusing you of something, Jamie. What the hell do you think you're doing? Have you no soul?"

"You think I send these emails. You've been spending too much time with those idiots over at Warwick. They're destroying your intelligence."

"Really? Because, funny enough, I never showed you the emails Nathan received nor were the details of them talked about. How did you know there were some to Nathan as well as Kurt?"

Jamie regarded him for a moment, caught off guard before regaining his composure, "The date. Wasn't hard to figure out."

"Don't lie. Those could've been for Kurt as well from years ago, there is no name of them. Don't you fucking lie to me! How could you, Jamie! Can you really not stand being the center of attention that you need to drive someone to suicide? You are a sick twisted person and I can't believe I ever called you my friend. It makes me physically ill just to look at you."

Gabriel turned to walk out. He couldn't trust himself to stay any longer.

"He was ruining you. Little weakling, couldn't even stand a couple of taunts before breaking down. He wasn't worth your time. Our time. It was disgusting watching you follow him around like a little puppy. You are a leader, Gabriel, not a follower and he was ruining you. Don't you see; I had to save you. It's the same with Kurt. He would ruin you."

Gabriel whipped around and drew his hand back. Before he could even register what was happening his fist slammed into Jamie's face. Jamie fell back gripping the left side of his face, glaring at Gabriel.

"Stay the fuck away from me, Jamie. Stay away from Kurt as well." He turned to leave again.

"Where will you go? You can't go home. Your parents can't stand the sight of you. I'm all you have."

Gabriel kept walking. He had until the end of the school year to figure something out, because Jamie was right about one thing. He couldn't go home.

* * *

><p>Kurt groaned as he woke up to the sound of feet running across the floor then the door of the bathroom closing.<p>

"Waz goin' on?" Blaine mumbled his face buried in Kurt's hair. Groaning again, Kurt drew away from Blaine and made his way over to the bathroom, Nikel right behind him.

"Zach, you okay?" Kurt questioned, gently tapping against the bathroom door. The sound of retching was his reply, "Can we come in?"

He heard a hum of affirmative and opened the door. Zach sat with his arms wrapped around the toilet, his wig sitting beside him it probably had fallen off while he was getting sick.

Nikel ran past Kurt and fell to his knees next to Zach. Carefully he wrapped his arms around the weak boy and drew him to his chest. He began to comfort Zach, who just laid limp in his arms. Slowly, Kurt backed out of the room and returned to Blaine who was sitting up giving Kurt a questioning look.

"He's fine, I think. The medication is making him sick." He whispered, getting back into bed and cuddling up with Blaine, "Its working though, his last test results came back with quite a bit of improvement."

They could both hear Nikel's voice drift from the bathroom with words of comfort for Zach.

"I love you, Kurt." Blaine whispered, lightly kissing him on lips.

"I love you so much, Blaine." He replied, deepening the kiss.

They pulled apart a little while later when they heard Nikel come back carrying an exhausted Zach.

"You okay, Zach?" Kurt asked again once they were settled back in bed.

"Yeah. You know they have to destroy you in order to fix you. Getting better all the time." Zach yawned, "I just want my hair back…really, really bad. And I'm going to be so pissed if it comes back curly. I just can't pull that off."

"Only you would be worried about something like that." Blaine teased, "Well you and Kurt. Oof."

Kurt smiled innocently while Blaine rubbed his stomach where Kurt smacked him. He gave Kurt a hurt look; who, in return, rolled his eyes. When Blaine continued to give him the puppy dog look, he grumbled and leaned forward to give him a kiss. The smile on Blaine's face afterward made Kurt roll his eyes again. Dork.

Morning came with dark clouds covering the sky and thunder heard off in the distance which strangely put Zach in a good mood.

"Zach loves rain." Nikel explained as they headed to breakfast, Zach running ahead to look out all the windows as if expected it to rain any second now.

"No, Zach likes running around in the rain like a madman." Wes said, catching up with the boys, shaking his head in Zach's direction, "We had this huge storm our freshman year. Two teachers chased Zach down when he refused to come inside. He was given three weeks of detention."

"He won't be doing that this time. He's sick." Nikel growled, in that overprotective way of his.

"Yeah, you try telling him that." David patted Nikel's arm, "Good luck."

"So he's running around because he likes rain. Here I thought he was just really excited it was Friday." Kurt muttered, shaking his head at the eager blonde.

They all took their seats to eat breakfast when Gabriel came in and took a seat with them. While they were used Kurt and Gabriel talking a lot of the group wasn't used to Gabriel sitting with them at breakfast. Their stunned looks were almost comical. Jamie came in next, the bruise on his cheek very obvious.

Kurt looked at Gabriel.

"He told Damien he was messing around in his room and had an accident. He was too embarrassed to talk about it. Damien believed him. Lucky for me."

"You punched him?" Zach snickered, obviously amused, "Wow, Prissy, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Thank you for the insult wrapped in that compliment, how very kind of you."

"Yep, it's what I do."

"Do you ever get that feeling you missed something, David?"

"All the time, Wes, all the time," David sighed dramatically. The two continued to bemoan their lack of knowledge until Blaine interrupted them.

"Are you two done?" Blaine asked.

"Yep! Now remember we have a warbler get together this evening."

"Oh boy."

"Try to sound enthusiastic about this, Kurt."

"Sorry Wes."

Breakfast passed continuous banter. They knew Gabriel didn't want to talk about what happened with Jamie. The fact he punched him gave them the answer they needed. He was guilty. They went to their classes and managed through them without incident. As they grouped in front of the school to meet to figure out their afterschool activity, they heard an excited gasp. Zach came running past them and opened the doors. Rain lightly fell from the sky.

"Come on Nikel! Rain!" He laughed about to run out.

"Zach freeze." Zach stopped and turned to look at Nikel, "You are sick you can't go out to…play in the rain."

"Nikel," Zach said plainly, "I am going to out to play in the rain. You can either watch me or join me. You are not stopping me." With that he turned around and ran outside. Nikel followed him and stood under the safety of the overhang while yelling at Zach to come back. Kurt, Blaine, Wes and David joined Nikel under the roof.

"Come on, Nikel, everybody, you know you want to join me!" Zach laughed, spinning around in a circle, the rain lightly falling on his head, soaking him, "And don't tell me you don't want to ruin your uniform, schools done 'til Monday! Enjoy life!"

"Zach, you're crazy!" David laughed.

"Zach, get back here!" Nikel yelled again.

Nikel finally seemed to have enough and ran out into the rain to physical grab Zach and drag him back in where it was warm and safe. Zach seemed to anticipate this and quickly dodged away from him.

The rest of boys looked at each other while Nikel chased Zach down. Shrugging, they ran out into the rain as well. Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and drew him to him to dance with him to whatever music he had in going in his head. After a few turns, Wes ran into Blaine attempting to knock him off balance. Laughing, Blaine let go of Kurt in order to chase Wes around. David and Kurt stood side by side and snickered.

Zach came running then and right before he could get in between Blaine and Wes, Nikel tackled him to the ground.

"Caught you! You need to get inside, Zach; it's not healthy for you to be out here in the rain." Nikel scowled, holding Zach's arms above his head on the wet grass. "Your immune system is shit .You never think!"

"Don't need to. That's your job."

Nikel opened his mouth to answer when Wes cried out, "Hog pile!" and jumped on the two boys. David quickly joined him. Rolling his eyes, Blaine joined as well pulling Kurt with him. Soon they were all lying in the grass, laughing, even Nikel. Blaine reached out and grabbed Kurt's hand again. Zach sat up for a moment and smiled at their clasped hands. His gaze then turned to Nikel and the look on his face became thoughtful.

"We're insane." Wes commented first, staring at the sky as the rain fell down upon them.

"Yeah, but what a life," Zach smiled.

They sat there in the rain for a bit longer. It was a surprisingly warm rain and nobody was in too big of hurry to move. Well, maybe Nikel but that was just to protect Zach, who wouldn't budge. Eventually, the rain stopped but the clouds remained.

"Don't you guys have a glee meeting?" A voice shouted from the doorway.

"Oh shit!" Wes yelling, jumping up and full out ran past Gabriel to get ready for the meeting. Slowly the rest got up and headed inside.

"You guys are soaked, stay away from me."

"Come on, Gabriel, we should hug this out." Zach teased taking a step towards the other boy.

"Hug Nikel I'm staying out of this." Gabriel turned to walk back to Maxstoke dormitory.

"Coming to the glee meeting? It's open to anyone who wants to sing." Kurt asked to the retreating back.

"We'll see." Was all Gabriel said before disappearing.

"Come on we need to change." Blaine said, tugging Kurt towards Warwick.

They quickly changed their clothes and ran back down to the main building where they had their Glee meetings. Most of the boys were already there since Kurt took a while to blow dry his hair. No way was he going anywhere public looking like a drowned rat. Plus, Blaine needed to re-gel his hair much to Kurt's disappointment.

As they headed towards the glee room, Kurt glanced over and saw Sammy, who was heading back up to the dorms. He looked so pale and tired, deep circled sat under his eyes. The way he walked told Kurt he was probably drunk or at least getting there. Kurt nudged Blaine and nodded in that direction.

"Should we follow him?" Kurt asked, watching him leave.

"I'll stop in and talk to him tonight. He's not the most approachable person right now." Nikel responded watching as well. They stood there until he was out of sight. Kurt bit his lip for a moment before following the rest who started walking again. He didn't like leaving Sammy alone but Nikel knew him better. Maybe he really just wanted to be left alone.

"About time you showed up." Wes said as soon as they entered the room.

"What are you talking about? You just came bolting in here like 15 seconds ago." Jonathon piped up before shrinking back at the harsh glare Wes sent his way, "Uh lets…sing."

The group took turns on who would go up. Zach jumped up and skipped to the front.

"My turn, my turn!"

"Okay, Zach, calm down. What are you singing?"

"I shall never be calm, David! You can't stop me. Ha ha ha. This song is for Nikel and it's called 'I'd lie' by Taylor Swift."

"He really likes Taylor Swift, doesn't he?" Kurt whispered to Blaine, who nodded.

Zach cleared his throat as he grabbed the guitar they always kept in the room to help get the background music right in their harmonies and then sat down.

"_I don't think that passenger seat  
>Has ever looked this good to me<br>He tells me about his night  
>And I count the colors in his eyes<br>He'll never fall in love he swears  
>As he runs his fingers through his hair<br>I'm laughing cause I hope he's wrong  
>I don't think it ever crossed his mind<br>He tells a joke I fake a smile  
>That I know all his favorite songs<br>And.."  
><em>

He threw a smile at Nikel as he sang the chorus.

_"I could tell you his favorite color's green  
>He loves to argue, born on the seventeenth<br>His sister's beautiful, he has his father's eyes  
>And if you asked me if I love him,<br>I'd lie._

_"He looks around the room_  
><em>Innocently overlooks the truth<em>  
><em>Shouldn't a light go on?<em>  
><em>Doesn't he know that I've had him memorized for so long?<em>  
><em>He sees everything black and white<em>  
><em>Never let nobody see him cry<em>  
><em>I don't let nobody see me wishing he was mine.<em>

_"I could tell you his favorite color's green_  
><em>He loves to argue, born on the seventeenth<em>  
><em>His sister's beautiful, he has his father's eyes<em>  
><em>And if you asked me if I love him,<em>  
><em>I'd lie."<em>

He motioned with his head for Nikel to come over to him. Feeling a little awkward Nikel obeyed. Zach played a bit without singing, winking at Nikel when he took a seat on the stool next to him.

_"He stands there then walks away  
>My god if I could only say<br>I'm holding every breath for you..._

_"He'd never tell you but he can play guitar_  
><em>I think he can see through everything<em>  
><em>But my heart<em>  
><em>First thought when I wake up is<em>  
><em>My god he's beautiful<em>  
><em>So I put on my makeup<em>  
><em>And pray for a miracle<em>

_"Yes I could tell you his favorite color's green_  
><em>He loves to argue oh and it kills me<em>  
><em>His sisters beautiful he has his father's eyes<em>  
><em>And if you asked me if I love him<em>  
><em>If you asked me if I love him<em>  
><em>I'd lie"<em>

Zach stood up and gently put the guitar back in the corner where he got it. He, then, approached the still sitting Nikel. He stopped when he was right in front of him and stared down at him with a slight smirk playing on his features.

"What?" Nikel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You win."

"What?" He sounded more confused this time.

"You win." He repeated before leaning down and capturing Nikel's lips in a kiss. It only lasted a few seconds but they pulled apart smiling, their foreheads touching. A resounding applause from the rest of the boys in the hall broke them apart, both bright red.

"Can't you do anything normal?" Nikel groaned, moving to sit back in the sea of boys hoping the earth would swallow him whole. Zach followed him and plopped down on his lap.

"Can you image me normal? Just the thought of it is horrifying." Zach replied, leaning against his chest, "Seriously try to image it. Doesn't it just make you shudder?"

"Idiot," Nikel teased, looping his arms loosely around Zach's waist.

"Oh great," David moaned, "You two are going to be all disgustingly cute like Blaine and Kurt, aren't you?"

"Aren't they already?" Wes interjected.

"I don't know have we caught them making out in a janitor's closet yet?" Jonathon asked, his head tilted in thought.

"No? Are you saying you've caught Kurt and Blaine-"

"I would never stoop as low as to actually go into a janitor closet." Kurt interrupted Wes with a glare.

"He has a point."

"Are you guys really debating the personal lives of Kurt and me?" Blaine questioned, rubbing his forehead.

"Yes." Was the response from a few different individuals.

Kurt opened his mouth to shut them up when the door was slammed open, bouncing off the wall from the force. The boys jumped; Blaine grabbing Kurt's hand to calm him down and they all turned their gazes towards the door.

There stood a boy breathing heavy his face drained of all color, Kurt vaguely recognized him as a resident of Maxstoke, Lance, Lucius, something that started with an 'L' at least.

"Luke what's wrong?" Wes asked, immediately jumping into his professional Warbler leader mode.

"There was an accident." He started…

**-Earlier during the Warbler Meeting-**

Gabriel walked out of Maxstoke and headed across the campus to the main building. Maybe he would go to the warbler meeting after all. If anything, then just to listen to some good music. He hasn't gone to a meeting since Nathan died.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gabriel stopped and spun on his heel to face Jamie. At least it wasn't raining anymore, Gabriel thought as he faced down someone he thought was his best friend.

"I don't see why it's any of your business, James."

"I'm 'James' now? We're best friends, Gabriel-"

"Correction we were best friends." Gabriel snapped, "You lost that title when you started threatening my friends. You should've lost that title two years ago when you aided in Nathan's suicide."

"He couldn't take a few mean words, poor him. What are you going to do, turn me in to the cops?" Gabriel wanted to smack the smirk off of Jamie's smug face.

"No, we both your daddy will just throw some money around to make it go away. Plus, I don't want to put the Atra's through that." He advanced towards Jamie, "Like I said before you will stay away from Kurt. You will stay away from the Warwick boys; you will stay the hell away from me. I don't want to see you or hear you anywhere near me. You will apologize to Kurt and then you will fade into the background. Understand?"

"Or what? Like you said my father will make everything disappear. You have no ground to be making demands."

Gabriel mirrored Jamie's smirk with one of his own, "You apologize and fall back or I'll call Drew and explain to him exactly why he was kicked out of your parent's house. Once he talks to your parents you'll be the one out on your ass." He scoffed disgusted, "I should've known it was you years ago. You got rid of your own brother because you couldn't stand the fact he was better than you, he had even just a little bit of the attention you thought was entitled to you."

Jamie snarled, "You'll ruin me and for what? Some little peasant boy who isn't worth enough to shine our shoes. How the mighty have fallen."

"For Kurt who doesn't deserve the shit the world throws at him but mostly for Nathan. He was a beautiful soul and you destroyed him. I'll ruin you for love. To avenge my love."

"How sentimental. " Jamie spat.

"I feel sorry for you Jamie. You're a bitter person who will never know happiness as long as you continue to hurt those around you."

"You are weak, Gabriel."

Gabriel turned to walk away from Jamie, as he turned he caught a glimpse of movement on top of Warwick Dorms. He stopped and looked in that direction. Another movement before it disappeared around the bend and he swore.

"Shit." He took off running towards Warwick, leaving Jamie behind as a memory from years before nagged at his head.

"_LET GO!"_

"_No, Nathan would never forgive me if I let you do this."_

"_Fuck him! He can't be hypocrite about this. Let go of me, Gabriel. Please. Please, let go."_

"_No." _

He ran through Warwick and up the stairs ignoring all the people he came across in his rush to get to the roof. Sammy was never in his right frame of mind during this time of the year. Why was nobody watching him?

He threw open the door to the roof and froze. Like a flashback to the day of Nathan's funeral there sat Sammy, sitting on the ledge with beer cans scattered around him. At least this time he wasn't singing.

"Sammy." Gabriel said cautiously, hoping not to startle him.

Sammy leaned his head back and to the side regarding Gabriel. He snorted and looked away, his gaze to the ground below him.

"Go away, Gabriel."

"Now why would I do something like that?" He responded, strolling over to the other boy. He was almost in arm reach when Sammy's voice made him stop.

"Freeze, stay away from me, Gabriel." He sighed, "Please. Please just…let me go now. I'm tired; I'm just so tired."

"You know I can't."

"It isn't your decision." Was his reply. It was almost déjà vu for Gabriel. He saw Sammy's muscle flex and ran forward, grabbing him just as he jump. Only there was no Nikel or Zach to grab ahold of him like last time. Gabriel realized too late as he felt himself pitch over the edge with Sammy. He did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed Sammy and held him. He was heavier; he knew he was going to land first. As he closed his eyes, he thought, 'Nathan I don't regret this' and then he felt nothing.

* * *

><p>The boys that were at the Warblers meeting flew out of the room and towards the doors leading to Warwick. Before they could get too close they were stopped by teachers, who were blocking all the exits.<p>

"Please," their science teacher, Ms. Rabb, was speaking calmly, "stay inside. We need the area clear and you boys wandering about will only cause chaos."

"What happened?" one boy yelled out, Kurt couldn't tell from where.

She pursed her lips before sighing, "Two boys fell off the roof on Warwick."

"Oh god, Sammy," Zach whispered, grabbing Nikel tightly. Kurt remembered their story about Sammy trying to jump from the roof before. He really hoped it wasn't him but he knew. Sammy loved going up on the roof he told Kurt that himself. He went up there all the time.

"We don't know that, Zach. Keep calm." Nikel whispered. They could hear sirens off in the distances approaching the school.

"Want everybody to go the auditorium. We need the medics to be able to do their job without the hindrance of students. Now move."

Slowly all the boys made their way to the auditorium. More and more boys flooded in after them. Kurt bit his lip when he noticed Sammy wasn't part of the crowd. He managed to catch the eye of Jamie who just glared at him.

"He's not here." Zach said, "Sammy's not here."

"He may have already been forced in here. We weren't the first ones to arrive by any means." Nikel soothed his boyfriend.

It felt like forever before the Dean of Dalton walked into the room. He moved up to the podium with a few teachers following him. They looked very solemn.

"Settle down, boys. Settle down." The Dean spoke, waiting for all the boys to quiet, "As most of you know there was an incident not long ago today involving two of our students. We don't have full details yet but the parents have been notified so we can share with you now.

"Earlier today two boys fell off the roof of Warwick dormitory. While we don't know the circumstances of this there looks to be no foul play involved. Samuel Atra was taken to Westerville's Hospital where he is in critical condition." He waited for the gasps and a murmuring to stop before continuing, "With a heavy heart I have to add that Gabriel Johnston who landed first and under Samuel, did not make it. He was pronounced dead at the scene."

This time the boys erupted into a fury of talking. Kurt fell back into Blaine and allowed his boyfriend to hold him up as he started to cry. Zach and Nikel stood, shocked, with the realization that Gabriel once again may have saved their friend but this time with his own life.

"Silence, silence please." The Dean looked out at all the boys of Dalton's school, "I'd like for everyone to remain respective of the Johnston family's privacy. Classes will be cancelled for tomorrow in light of this tragedy and your families will be receiving a call informing them of what happened. We will let you know when funeral arrangements are decided and everyone will be free to attend. We will also be giving updates on Samuel via email as we learn them. You may all return to your dorms."

The Dean left the room as the students looked to one another. Kurt was a sobbing mess with Blaine holding onto him dearly. Zach fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around Kurt as well followed by Nikel who had his arms around Zach and Blaine's shoulders. They cried for Sammy and they cried for Gabriel. They cried for the fact they were stupid enough to think they could handle everything themselves instead of getting help from the staff.

They knew what happened. Sammy tried to jump before and Gabriel saved him with the help of Nikel and Zach. This time nobody could help they may have lost not one but two people because of it. Sammy just had to pull through, he had to. Nikel hummed softly the song he heard Gabriel sing at Nathan's funeral when he thought everyone left. He, now, understood the meaning.

"_If you get there before I do__  
><em>_Don't give up on me__  
><em>_I'll meet you when my chores are through__  
><em>_I don't know how long I'll be _

"_But I'm not gonna let you down__  
><em>_Darling wait and see__  
><em>_And between now and then__  
><em>_Til I see you again _

"_I'll be loving you__  
>Love, Me."<em>

They all held on to each other, wishing that was enough.

* * *

><p>And so Death has claimed its first -but not its only- victim.<p>

Well that was depressing. Part 1 is done; part 2 is in the process of being written. Check my facebook for previews and other such details.

Let me know what you think and please don't shoot me. This is actually the lighter of the two chapters. Things get real dark next chapter. Jamie hasn't even reach the peak of his maliciousness. Now that Gabriel's dead there's nothing holding him back.


	20. Interlude: I won't forget you my friend

I sincerely apologize for the long wait. Sadly the real world is consuming all my free time and this chapter was particularly hard to write and I fear I didn't do it justice. Funerals are a hard topic for me right now but I did my best.

This is an Interlude between Part 1 and 2 of Still you said forever. For reality sake I had to put some distance between the chapters. Chapter 21 will be up a lot sooner though it is nearly heartbreaking for me to write.

I won't be doing individual responses to reviews this chapter but I want to thank everyone who reviewed and continues to read this story after my hiatus with it. I won't leave this story unfinished. That's a promise.

Disclaimer: I don't own glee or the song 'Cancer' by My Chemical Romance

* * *

><p>Chapter 20: Interlude I won't forget you my friend.<p>

It was Monday and school was cancelled so people could attend the funeral. They all crammed into the Church; the same one the group buried Nathan at years before. Kurt sat down in the front with Blaine, Zach and Nikel around him. He couldn't believe Gabriel's parents weren't here; that they wouldn't be burying him. He heard Gabriel's father had called Jamie and asked if Gabriel renounced his 'faggy ways.' When Jamie said no he told the school he had no son and hung up so the Atra's were burying him. Next to Nathan, like it should be.

Sammy was still in the hospital. Three days he's been there; he woke up once but then fell into a healing sleep and hasn't woken up since. The boys tried to visit him every day, but right now it wasn't about Sammy; it was about Gabriel.

Though Zach and Nikel never actually got along with Gabriel they knew him pretty well during his time with Nathan. Since no family came to his funeral Damien, Gabriel's RA, stood to give a speech. When he was done Nikel stood up to give a speech for their fallen classmate.

"Hey," Nikel started, looking out at all the classmates that showed up to pay their respects to Gabriel, "So as I'm sure everyone here knows that I'm Nikel and that I never got along with Gabriel. He was a spoiled prick who always got what he wanted and I wanted nothing to do with him. Then he started dating Nathan.

"We were stuck hanging out with the pompous ass all the time." Nikel sighed, "Only he really wasn't so bad. He treated Nathan like he was the center of the universe and actually tried to get along his friends. We just weren't so welcoming. The last few weeks I got to re-know Gabriel thanks to our mutual friend, Kurt. I learned he's one of the most caring people you'll ever meet under his mask of indifference. After Nathan's death he made it his job to watch over Nathan's little brother, Sam. He died protecting Sam and he deserves all the recognition in the world for that alone." Nikel turned to the closed casket and rested a hand on it, "Rest in peace, you annoying bastard, your work here is done and now you can rest with your love in heaven. Feel free to try and save some of us a seat."

He turned back to the crowd, "Now I ask the Warblers to come up and sing a song we prepared. I honestly had no idea what song to sing today so we finally agreed on the song Gabriel sang to Nathan on their one year anniversary. It was one of his favorite songs."

Zach remained sitting in the pew while the boys all stood in formation and began to hum. Blaine stepped forward to sing.

"_I'm not a perfect person  
>There's many things I wish I didn't do<br>But I continue learning  
>I never meant to do those things to you<br>And so I have to say before I go  
>That I just want you to know<em>

_I've found a reason for me_  
><em>To change who I used to be<em>  
><em>A reason to start over new<em>  
><em>and the reason is you"<em>

He faded back into the group and Nikel stepped forward. Though not part of the Warblers he chose to join them with the song in place of Zach.

_"I'm sorry that I hurt you  
>It's something I must live with every day<br>And all the pain I put you through  
>I wish that I could take it all away<br>And be the one who catches all your tears  
>That's why I need you to hear<em>

_"I've found a reason for me_  
><em>To change who I used to be<em>  
><em>A reason to start over new<em>  
><em>and the reason is you"<em>

Soon he faded into the back as well and Kurt along with Blaine stepped forward to finish off the song.

_"I'm not a perfect person  
>I never meant to do those things to you<br>And so I have to say before I go  
>That I just want you to know<em>

_"I've found a reason for me_  
><em>To change who I used to be<em>  
><em>A reason to start over new<em>  
><em>and the reason is you<em>

_"I've found a reason to show_  
><em>A side of me you didn't know<em>  
><em>A reason for all that I do<em>  
><em>And the reason is you"<em>

They all made their way back to their seats as soon as the song was finished so the preacher could finish the ceremony. Then they made their way out to the cemetery where they buried Gabriel next to Nathan. One by one the classmates of Gabriel Johnston left.

"Why did he sing that particular song to Nathan on their one year?" Kurt asked staring at the pile of dirt.

Nikel snorted, "They got into a fight earlier that day, something stupid. He was so sure Nathan was going to leave him."

"Oh," was all Kurt said.

It was time for them to go, most of the students already left only a few other remained. He couldn't help but notice he didn't see Jamie at any time during the funeral. He quickly shook off the thought and allowed Blaine to lead him back to their vehicles so they could go back to Dalton.

Blaine and Kurt arrived back at Dalton first and made their way back up to Kurt's dorm.

"We should've pulled over when Nikel did to make sure everything was okay." Kurt muttered, as he grabbed some new clothes to change into.

"He would've called if it was something important." Blaine replied just as Kurt shut the door to the bathroom to change. Blaine removed his shoes, socks, jacket, and shirt; just leaving on his white T-shirt and black pants. He was done by the time Kurt came back into the room.

"Still, what if something bad happen and he didn't have time to call?" He barely got those words out before the dorm room door flew open and Zach came sprinting in and into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. Nikel came running into the room right after.

Shutting the door behind him, he sighed, "Sorry, Zach had me pull over. He got sick on the side of the road." He raised his voice so Zach would be sure to hear, "He's probably sick from his little adventure in the rain."

Zach opened the bathroom door and gave Nikel a glare. Well, Kurt assumed it was a glare it was hard to tell with how pale he was and how tired his eyes looked. He had bags under them and he moved like it physically pained him. He had looked tired earlier before they left for the funeral but nothing like this.

"That was 3 days ago; I'm just tired." He mumbled, moving passed the boys to lay face down on his bed.

"We were going to go get food, but if you want to take a nap first we can wait." Blaine said, hesitantly.

Zach lifted his hand in a go on motion before letting his drop heavily next to him. Nikel moved to his side and kissed the side of his head, "I'll bring you back something light."

They headed down to the cafeteria where they knew a lot of the other students were going to be. The staff was putting on a special meal for after the funeral. They made their way over to their usual table and sat down after picking up some food.

"Where's the crazy one?" Wes asked as soon as they were sitting.

"He's getting some rest. It's not a good day for him." Nikel replied, shifting the food on his plate around.

"Nikel's convinced the little jaunt in the rain made Zach sick." Blaine said, between bites of food.

"Oh come on, Nikel, he would've gotten sick already if it was that. I'm sure it's just a bad day. It's not uncommon for those to happen with chemo/radiation patients." David tried to soothe the part of Nikel that felt guilty for letting Zach stay out there for so long that day. He wouldn't have been able to stop him anyway. If Zach wants to do something he's going to do it and nobody's going to be able to tell him otherwise.

"Yeah maybe." His voice didn't hold that much conviction in it.

"We were thinking about visiting Sammy after dinner. Any of you want to come along?" Blaine asked trying to shift the topic.

"I will." David replied as the rest gave negatives stating their excuses.

"I'll text you right before we leave." Blaine told him.

The rest of the meal passed in relative silence. Nobody had much to say after the funeral and the thoughts of Sammy still in the hospital.

Nikel grabbed a container of soup and with Blaine and Kurt headed back up to the dorms to give it to Zach.

They barely made it out of the cafeteria when they ran right into Jamie. They started to move around him already decided to ignore him when he spoke.

"It's your fault he's dead." Nikel stopped and turned slowly to look at Jamie.

"Excuse me?"

"It's your fault. If you had kept a closer eye on Dalton's resident mental patient this wouldn't have happened. Can't believe he lost his life saving the likes of one of you people. It disgusts me."

Nikel handed the soup off to Blaine and marched threateningly right up to Jamie, "Listen here you little piece of shit. You are a spoiled pompous little fuck who wouldn't understand friendship and loyalty if it came up and introduced itself. You're nothing, you're worth nothing. One day Mommy and Daddy won't be around to protect you and you'll be nothing but a beggar on the streets. The fact I share some of the same gene's as you makes me sick. Stay away from us or I will make your life a living hell. I'll just give Drew a call and tell him exactly why he's not allowed home. Oh that's right Jamie I know all about what you did."

Jamie just smirked, "You won't say anything. I bet my dear Aunt and Uncle have no idea their son broke up with his high-society girlfriend to date the son of a whore. I'm sure they'd be just thrilled.

"My parents love Zach."

"Maybe as your friend. He's certainly not someone they can bring to the country club and introduce as their son's boyfriend. Such a scandal." Jamie taunted before he slowly backed away with that smirk on his face, "Don't threaten me, Nikel, you're out of your league."

With that he turned and walked away. Nikel clenched his hands into fists and growled. His cousin was an awful human being.

"Did I miss something?" Kurt spoke up, confused, "I thought Loretta lived with an alcoholic aunt."

Nikel sighed and turned around. They began to walk again, "She does. Her parents were part of the high-society class if you will before they died. The fact she lives with that aunt is unfortunate circumstances. Once she turns eighteen she inherits all her parents' money and her dad's company which is being run by the board right now. My dad thought we were a 'good match' though my mother never liked her."

"And the part about Zach…"

"Maria's a good person. She's a single mom and in the beginning she did what she had to provide for her son. Don't say anything to Zach, okay?"

"Never."

They made it back to their dorm without further incident. They entered to see Zach completely out cold on his bed. Nikel went and put the soup on the nightstand. It could be re-heated easy enough. He put his hand on Zach's forehead and withdrew it with a frown.

"He feels a little warm."

"Well he is wrapped in like burrito." Blaine pointed out, "I'll text Nick to stop in every half hour or so and check on him. His room's right next door I'm sure he won't mind."

"Yeah, just let me leave a note for Zach to let him know where we went and we'll go. You should text David to meet us at the entrance. I'll drive."

By the time Nikel wrote the note and they made their way downstairs David was already waiting for them. They quickly piled into Nikel's car and made a quiet journey to the hospital. Once there they walked down the now familiar hallways to Sammy's room.

They walked in to find a nurse there checking his vitals. She gave them a sad smile when she saw them, "Back again boys? Sorry to say no changes though we're optimistic he'll be waking up any day now."

They thanked her as she left and sat around crowding the bed.

"So we had Gabriel's funeral today." Nikel started, telling Sammy about the going-ons. They were told he could probably hear them so they spoke to him often.

"It was quite beautiful even though his family didn't show up." Kurt continued, "A lot of the school showed up and they buried him next to Nathan. I'm sure Gabriel would be happy about that."

"The warblers got up to sing and I'm sure Gabriel would've thought that was way over the top." Blaine finished with a small laugh.

There was a small pause before Nikel huffed out, "You gotta wake up man. We need you to wake up."

Kurt held Blaine's hand in a death grip while Nikel pleaded with Sammy. It was a hard day and the pressure of it finally hit. Tears were streaming down Kurt's face as he turned his head to bury it in Blaine's shoulder.

Another half hour passed before they finally decided to head out. Kurt gained composure of himself as they exited the hospital. They got into the car and headed back.

"Do you think Zach's awake yet?" David asked, sitting in the front next to Nikel.

"I hope so. If he sleeps all evening then he'll be up all night and that's not good for him either."

Blaine smirked, "I didn't realize you were his babysitter as well as his boyfriend."

Nikel glanced in the rearview and scowled at him, "Like you're one talk."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Kurt snickered, grabbing Blaine's hand to keep him calm. He really didn't want them to argue the whole way home. Blaine smiled at him instead and leaned over to kiss him soundly.

"Ugh, please don't make out in my backseat." Nikel groaned.

Blaine pulled away for a minute, "Maybe you should keep your eyes on the road instead of what's going on back here."

"I can't help it. All I can think about is how much money I'll have to spend to decontaminate my car."

"Funny." Blaine replied before Kurt drew his attention back to him.

David reached over and turned the radio up louder intent on ignoring what was going on behind him. He had to admit though he was glad to see Kurt so comfortable around them. It was a far cry from the boy who arrived at Dalton all those months ago.

They returned to the school and headed back up to their dorms. David left them to head to his own room while the other three headed back to Kurt's.

"Do you hear a guitar?" Blaine asked as they neared the dorm.

Nikel frowned, "Zach's playing something. Well at least we know he's awake. He should be resting though not using all his energy to play a song."

Kurt rolled his eyes at Nikel as they quietly opened the door and stood there listening to the sad, sad song.

Zach sat on his bed, guitar in hand having it lean heavily on him like he couldn't be bothered to hold it properly. His voice drifted over the room as he continued to sing already into the song as they entered.

"_I will not kiss you  
>Cause the hardest part of this<br>is leaving you_

"_Now turn away  
>Cause I'm awful just to see<br>Cause all my hair's abandoned all my body"_

He ran a hand over his bald head before continuing on.

"_Oh, my agony  
>Know that I will never marry<br>Baby, I'm just soggy from the chemo  
>But counting down the days to go<em>

"_It just ain't living  
>and I just hope you know<br>that if you say  
>Goodbye today<br>I'd ask you to be true_

"_'Cause the hardest part of this  
>is leaving you<br>'Cause the hardest part of this  
>is leaving you"<em>

He sighed, letting the guitar to fall to the side of the bed out of energy to put the instrument away properly. Nikel glared at Zach when he was sure he was done playing, "You're not dying, Zach. You're getting stronger every day."

"I don't feel particularly strong today." He replied, quietly.

"You're not leaving me." He continued, walking further into the room and grabbing the guitar to put it in its rightful spot.

"No you'll leave me." He said quietly, tired, "You have plans after high school."

"I'll postpone them until we know you're better and in the clear."

"Your father won't like that. You've always talked about joining the marines. Doing something useful. Didn't even bitch about how you'd have to cut your hair. I won't let you change all your plans for me."

"Not change. Postpone." He repeated, "Why are you talking about this now?"

"We graduate in less than 3 months. Need to talk about it." He slurred, fighting to keep his tired eyes open.

"Not today we don't. How long have you been awake?"

"Woke up right after you left. Thanks for the soup. I'm sleepy again."

Nikel snorted softly, "Go back to sleep, Zach. We'll talk once you're feeling better."

He yawned letting his eyes fall close, "How's Sammy?"

"Still unconscious."

Zach fell asleep. Sighing Nikel eased himself down to sit next to the boy and run his hand over Zach's bald head.

"When did everything get so fucked up?" Nikel whispered, looking down at his best friend and now boyfriend.

Kurt and Blaine settled on the Kurt's bed, curling up next to each other.

"I don't know. I don't remember anyone saying anything like this when they warned you about high school." Blaine muttered, holding Kurt close.

"Well anything after high school will seem like sunshine and rainbows." Kurt let out a little laugh.

"That was a very Zach-like statement there Kurt." Blaine teased, poking him in the side.

"Well he is my roommate. He still talks in his sleep sometimes. I think he said something like that a few weeks ago. Not my fault he wakes me up."

Nikel snorted, "Sounds like Zach alright."

They talked awhile longer before they all drifted off to sleep. Hoping tomorrow would be a better day.

* * *

><p>"Please tell me there's no school today." Zach moaned, snuggling further into Nikel's side, "Lie to me if you have to."<p>

"Sorry, Zach."

Zach groaned getting up, "This sucks…I call first shower!" He yelled jumping up and running to the bathroom.

"Oh great, Zach's back to normal." Kurt groaned from the other side of the room.

Nikel sat up, "He still looks tired, but yeah. A little more like his annoying spunky self again." He then glanced at the clock, "Zach you asshole its 5 am!"

Kurt grunted and rolled over to lay his head on Blaine's chest, who somehow managed to stay asleep during all the yelling.

"Wake me up at a normal time, please." He mumbled falling back asleep.

Nikel stood up and stumbled his way to the bathroom. He opened the door and took a seat on the ledge of the sink while Zach was in the shower, hidden behind the shower curtain.

"What 'cha want pervert?" Zach asked, his voice slightly raised over the sound of the water.

"Pervert? Whatever. How are you feeling today?"

"Please don't mother me, Nike."

"Well you woke up at 5 am and it's not a Wednesday."

"Fine. I'm tired but not completely exhausted. I just needed to sleep was all. Happy?"

"Nope but I'll take what I can get."

"How was Sammy?"

"You asked that last night." Nikel pointed out. He knew the tumor sometimes messed with Zach's memory and made sure to point it out so Zach knew. He wanted him to try and remember. It was a good activity for his mind.

"Oh. Let me think." Zach was quiet for a minute, "still unconscious right?"

"Yep." Nikel replied, pleased. He was getting better at recalling information.

"Nikel." Zach said imploringly, "We do need to talk about the future. I refuse to hold you back. That was my fear since the beginning."

"Don't. I don't want to talk about it today."

"Soon?"

"Soon." He agreed reluctantly.

The water turned off, "Get out of the bathroom now pervert. I don't want you to see me naked. I look pretty disgusting right now."

"You look fine, but I'll leave to save the innocent ears of Kurt and Blaine who will probably wake up soon."

Zach barked out a laugh as Nikel left the bathroom.

Today was the first day back at school after the death of Gabriel. It was going to be a rough day.

* * *

><p>So that concludes chapter 20. It was sort of a filler but there were a few key points that needed to be said. With a heavy heart I start chapter 21. After chapter 21 is the epilogue which I will tell you now is a funeral. Two more people die in this fic. Be ready.<p>

If you hate Jamie how you'll be out for his blood next chapter.

Look for updates on my facebook page. I'll post them as I write.


	21. Still you said forever part 2

Here after an insanely long wait is Chapter 21. This chapter was difficult for me and it's not proofread. I apologize for that. It's the longest chapter of the story and I wanted to add way more but this was the end result. I hope you like it though I'm sure many of you won't. This had been planned for a long time and I couldn't change it. It just wasn't in the cards.

Bold is flashback

Italics is song

There will be a lot of dividers in this chapter. I wouldn't need them if fanfiction would allow me to keep the spacing I put it in but it wont so, sorry.

This story is coming to a close. All that left is the epilogue after this. Kurt's doing much better after the abuse he suffered which was the main focus of the story in the beginning.

Disclaimer: I dont know Glee. I do own my OC's

* * *

><p>Chapter 21: Still you said forever part 2<p>

_When someone said count your blessings now  
>'fore they're long gone<br>I guess I just didn't know how  
>I was all wrong<br>They knew better  
>Still you said forever<br>And ever  
>Who knew<em>

"Sammy's coming home! Sammy's coming home!" Zach announced in a sing-song voice while running through the halls of Dalton heading back towards Warwick dormitory. Nikel trailed behind him at a more sedate pace. It was impossible to lose Zach with his screaming. Behind him was Blaine and Kurt, holding hands laughing at their eccentric friend.

Zach, realizing he was alone, turned around and doubled back to them, grabbing Nikel's hand as he jumped up and down, "Come on you guys be happy it's been almost a month!"

"Is it the fact Sammy is getting out of the hospital or the fact its pouring rain outside that has him so insane?" Kurt asked, leaning closer to Blaine so Zach wouldn't hear him.

"Option C he's always this crazy. Though it being April doesn't help. You know all the rain…"

"Why are you two whispering?" Zach asked pushing past Nikel to walk next to them, "Are you talking about me? Why don't you love me? What did I do wrong?!"

"I'm going to blame your insanity on the tumor and pretend you didn't speak." Kurt decided, as they continued on. Soon everyone split up to change into after school clothes. Afterwards they met back up to head over to Sammy's house to welcome him home.

"Are we supposed to pick Allina up or is she meeting us there?" Wes asked as they headed to the cars.

"She's with the Atra's picking Sammy up from the hospital. We should arrive at the house right after them." David explained as they packed into Wes' van. He was the only one who could drive them all over.

"Zach get in the car!" Nikel scolded, pulling Zach out of the rain and into the vehicle. He pouted as they pulled away.

Kurt rested his head on top of Blaine's while he listened to the boys banter back and forth. It was Friday and he knew he should've gone home this weekend. He's skipped the last couple to spend time with Sammy in the hospital, but this was the first weekend Sammy would be home and they made plans to spend at least the rest of the day with him. Thankfully his dad was understanding.

"Is Sammy going to have to repeat his Junior year?" Zach asked suddenly frowning, "He's already a year behind because of last time."

"No. Since he's only missing about 3 months Dalton is going to let him home study and take his tests during the summer so he can continue to move forward." Nikel replied, "The school administrators talked to him last night about it."

"At least somebody has a plan for next year." Zach grumbled, crossing his arms looking away from Nikel.

"Not now Zach."

"Not now Zach." Zach repeated sarcastically, "More like not ever."

They still haven't talked about what would happen after high school. With less than two months until they graduate Zach was getting a little anxious. He didn't want Nikel to hold off on his plans while Nikel refuses to leave Zach until they hear that glorious word 'remission'. It has now become a month long stand-off between the two and none of the other boys in the car were all that keen to re-live it.

"Can we please not argue about this right now guys?" Blaine pleaded.

"Go back to trying to suck Kurt's face off, Blaine." Zach replied, looking behind him in order to stick his tongue out at the two.

"Jealous?" Kurt teased, purposefully wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck and kissing him as hard as he could. He pulled away and looked smugly at other boy. Blaine just looked dazed.

"That's a challenge!" Zach yelled, turning to look at Nikel with hopeful eyes.

Nikel rolled his eyes and pecked him on the lips, "There."

"How are we supposed to win with that? That wasn't even a real kiss."

"Hey! Behave back there. Don't make me turn the hose on you when we get to Sammy's." David hollered back, shaking his head slightly. He knew he should've made them go in a different car. Or at least just Zach.

"It's raining outside…would that even work?" Nikel asked, teasing him, "There's a flaw in your logic."

"Just shut up." David grumbled.

"This is such a long drive." Zach whined, flopping back against the seat, "Can we play I-spy?"

"NO!" Five other voices yelled out in response. Zach huffed, they were all so boring.

Eventually –which was way too long in Zach's mind- they reached Sammy's house. They walked up to the front door and before any of them could knock Allina threw it open.

"Oh good you're here. I thought I heard a vehicle." She gave them a small smile, "Sammy's downstairs in his room. Come on in."

She led them downstairs back to the room Kurt remembered visiting all those month ago after sectionals when he was harassed at Breadstix.

Allina turned to them just as her hand reached the doorknob, "He's doing better, but he doesn't have a lot mobility in his left leg yet. He's also still dealing with some withdrawals from all the…alcohol and drugs in his system so he can be a little testy at times." She looked really tired and stressed and they couldn't help, but wonder how much of the anger she took on herself.

With that warning she opened the door and led them all into Sammy's room. He was sitting up in his bed, but wasn't under the sheets. His left leg was still in a brace and he had some lingering bruises but he looked a lot better. It could've been so much worse and everyone knew it.

"Wow." He said after a bit of silence while everyone continued to stare at him, "I didn't realize Zach could be so quiet."

"Shut up, you bastard." Zach grumbled moving past Nikel to jump on the bed over Sammy so he was closest to the wall. Nikel rolled his eyes but moved closer as well with the others following behind him. Allina moved forward and sat on the edge of the bed next to Sammy and grabbed his hand.

"So…how's Dalton?" Sammy finally asked, looking around at all the boys.

"Crazy. Seniors freaking out like normal. Only two months to finish their shit and get the grades that look good for college." Zach laughed, "It's amusing to watch."

Nikel groaned, "Zach's been throwing water balloons and…ketchup balloons at the other seniors to, in his words, 'lighten them up'."

"I've gotten six detentions and counting." Zach announced proudly, making the others roll their eyes.

"The Dean is contemplating suspension." Nikel added, rubbing a hand over his face obviously stressed.

"I'm still trying to figure out where he gets all the ketchup. He never leaves the school." Blaine said, shaking his head in wonder.

"He ordered a 114 oz. jug off Amazon." Kurt answered with a sigh, "He received this huge box I shudder to think what else is in there."

Zach shrugged, "A Balloon Launcher, Potato Gun, Rubber Band Shooter, a Fart Whistle, Flingshot Slingshot Flying Screaming Monkey, the Official Bullshit Button, Snake in a Nut Can, Itch Powder, Hand Buzzer, a Whoopi Cushion, Stink Bombs and Liquid Ass to go with the Whoopi Cushion, and of course a Slinky."

By the end he had the whole room staring at him in absolute horror. Nikel opened and closed his mouth a few times before he finally got the words out, "I'm doing a room check when we get back and confiscation all of that before you get expelled."

Zach glared at him, "You just want it all for yourself. Good luck finding it!"

"It's under his bed." Kurt threw in.

"Traitor." Zach grumbled.

"You can keep the slinky." Nikel replied with a long suffering sigh.

"Ooo yes! A slinky!" Zach cheered bouncing on the bed making Sam shake next to him.

"Stop it, you loser." Sam snapped, causing Zach to stop and pout.

"Sorry…so you're not coming back to school?"

Sammy let a sigh of his own, "No, Mom and Dad want to me to stay home and study. Plus with the leg I'm not sure how well I'll be able to get around the steps at Dalton." He closed his eyes taking a deep breath, "I don't know if I can go back to Dalton right now. It's all still so fresh in my mind. It's all my fault."

"Don't." Allina snapped, giving Sammy a fierce look, "We've talked about this. Gabriel made a choice. He knew what he was doing. What you're feeling is survivor's guilt. What did your therapist say?"

"Nothing useful." Sammy grumbled back.

Kurt raised an eyebrow, "Please tell me you're not seeing Ms. Baumer. She's horrible."

"You had her too?"

"Yep, switch if you can. Envisioning balls of light is pointless."

"I know, right! So annoying."

"Aww, look, Nikel they're bonding over therapists." Zach cooed, lacing his finger together under his chin.

"You are a strange, strange person, Zachariah Amar Bendig." Sammy replied, turning his head to look at him.

"It's the tumor."

"It's your brain in general, you nutcase." David said rolling his eyes.

"You're just jealous you're not as awesome as I am."

"If that's how awesome is defined then just call me loser." David replied.

"Hear that, Nikel, David gave me permission to call him loser to his face now."

"Wait? You call me loser when I'm not around."

"Yep. All the time actually." Zach said, "We have meeting where that's all we do. Well that, and devise up ways to pull out that stick Wes has in his ass during Warbler season."

"Excuse me?" Wes butted in, "The what up my where?"

Zach's eyes got really wide, "You mean you don't know? I thought you could feel it…or you put it there yourself. Well looks like I owe Jonathon five dollars."

"Oh Zach." Sammy groaned, before nudging him lightly shoulder-to-shoulder, "Never change."

"Can I at least have my hair back?" Zach asked, running his hand over his wig, "I so don't do bald well."

Sammy just laughed. It was hard to be angry and bitter when Zach was in the room. He was like a little puppy. You want to be mad that he peed on your new carpet but he looks so damn adorable.

"Don't laugh Sammy, you'll just encourage him." Nikel complained.

"Fine, fine." Sammy replied, taking a deep breath to stop the laughter, "So anything else going on at Dalton?"

Blaine snorted, "Not really. Even Jamie's been silent, though one could argue he's probably planning something."

Sammy glared down at his bed, "If everything you've told me is true I want Jamie to pay. I don't know how but somehow he'll pay."

Nikel shook his head, "I've been thinking that for years. Trust me my Uncle will be covering Jamie's ass for the rest of his life."

Sammy scoffed, "Your cousin's a piece of shit, Nikel."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"I'm the one who snuck into Jamie's room our Freshman year and set off all those glitter bombs." Zach replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

While Kurt looked confused, Sammy just turned to Nikel with an exasperated look, "I told you it was him."

"How did you even get into Maxstoke to do that?"

Zach shrugged, "Drew. He really doesn't like his brother."

"I don't even know what to say to you anymore. Every time I think I have you figured out you say something that just throws it in left field again."

"It's a gift. Mom says I've been spouting nonsense and bullshit since I learned how to talk."

"Sounds like Maria." Nikel agreed.

Kurt finally piped up, "I'm sorry I'm still stuck on glitter bomb."

Zach smiled a truly evil smile, "Oh I'll show you when we get back."

Blaine groaned, "You just had to question him, didn't you? Your room is going to be a mess."

"Great."

They continued to talk for a while longer before Sammy started to yawn.

Nikel noticed and knew Allina would kick them out soon if they didn't leave on their own, "We should probably be leaving now. After all our History projects are due on Monday and Mr. Procrastinator over there isn't done yet."

"The Civil War is so boring. Seriously I don't want to read about the smallpox and…" He stopped to think for a minute, "other…things."

"My point is made. We need to help Zach with his project."

Sammy nodded, "Okay, well come visit again. I'll just be here bored and doing homework." He yawned again.

"See you later man." Wes patted him on the back before making his way out of the bedroom. With final goodbyes the rest followed as well getting into Wes' van and headed back to Dalton.

They barely pulled out of the driveway before broke the nice silence the fell over the group, "So…can we play I-spy now?"

"NO!" Everybody else answered making Zach pout.

Eventually, Zach had fallen asleep on Nikel's shoulder while Kurt did the same to Blaine. It was already late evening and they weren't quite back to Dalton yet. The rest of the boys talked quietly about Nathan, Gabriel and Jamie.

"We can't let Jamie get away with all of this." Blaine muttered, glaring at his hands.

Nikel hummed in agreement, "But we have to be careful. Jamie won't go down without a fight."

"What do you purpose we do?" Wes asked, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"I think I'll make a phone call to Drew tomorrow. He'll know what to do. Plus if I accidently let it slip Jamie had a hand in his disowning then oops." Nikel let out a humorless laugh, "How fucked up is it that one little thing sparked so much? If Jamie didn't send those emails to Nathan he wouldn't have killed himself, then Sammy wouldn't have been an alcoholic suicidal mess, he would have never tried to jump from the roof and Gabriel would have never died."

"You can't think like that, Nikel." Blaine warned, "Should've, would've, could've. It can be a dangerous line of thought. If Gabriel didn't get involved with Nathan, Jamie would've never sent those emails. You know how miserable Nathan would've been without Gabriel. He really did love him."

"You're right. Of course you're right. I'm just angry is all. Zach's last testing didn't go well and I'm stressed about our future."

"What?" Wes exclaimed.

"You didn't tell us that!" David added, barely keeping his voice down so not to wake the other two boys.

Nikel groaned, "He didn't want to say anything, didn't want anyone to be worried. It's a minor setback that the doctor said was to be expected. They expect better results on the next test. I wish he'd leave school to do treatment full time though I'm selfish enough to like having at school where I can watch him." Nikel looked around, "Don't look so glum guys. He's not dying or anything. Just a minor setback. You know Zach, he'll come out of this better than ever."

"It's just disheartening to hear." Blaine said, leaning his head so it laid on top of Kurt's.

"Yeah," Nikel replied, "I know."

The rest of the ride was quiet. Everyone still awake was lost in their own thoughts. Blaine and Nikel hesitantly woke up Kurt and Zach to get them back inside Dalton once they arrived back. Zach headed back to Warwick with Wes so he could go to bed. The rest headed to the Cafeteria to eat a late snack since they only had a quick bite to eat before going over to Sammy's.

"Are you done with your history project, Kurt?" Nikel asked when they sat down with their food.

"Yeah finally. I'm pretty sure Zach is the only one not done. Are you going to help with his tomorrow?"

"Well." Nikel looked uncomfortable, "I was hoping you and Blaine would be willing to help him. My parents called earlier today. They heard I broke up with Loretta so I thought I'd visit them tomorrow and tell them about Zach. At least it'll keep Jamie from lording it over my head."

"Oh." Was all Blaine could say.

"Yeah," Kurt picked up, "Of course we'll help Zach. Good luck with your parents tomorrow."

"Thanks. Let's just hope I can get through it without throwing up."

"You'll do fine," David said his mouth full of the bag of chips he was eating.

"That is disgusting." Kurt complained, pushing his food away, "I'm not hungry anymore."

David stuck out his tongue which made Kurt groan even more in disgust.

"I'm leaving." Kurt announced standing up. Nikel and Blaine got up as well.

"Yeah David can just sit and be gross by himself." Nikel agreed.

"Whatever. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Blaine, Kurt, and Nikel walked out of the cafeteria and headed back towards the Warwick building. They didn't get far when a voice stopped them.

"Oh good, they let the riff-raff out again."

Nikel let out a long-suffering sigh and turned to face Jamie, "Does everyone visualize duct tape over your mouth so early in a conversation?"

"Obviously you've been hanging with that son of a whore too much. You're starting to sound like him."

"Don't call him that!"

"I'm just stating facts. The fact you surround yourself with these mongrels of questionable breeding is a stain on the family name. It reflects badly on not only you but on me and the rest of our family as well."

"I thought Drew was the first stain on the family name and I'm pretty sure that it was you who caused it. I'm sorry Jamie but I have to ask: Does your ass ever get jealous of the shit that comes spewing out of your mouth?"

Jamie sputtered for a minute before snarling, "How dare you? You shouldn't speak to your betters that way, you bastard. We wouldn't want Mommy and Daddy to find out some unsavory things about their son now would we?"

"Let's just see whose dirt is worse." Nikel smirked at Jamie.

Jamie lost his superior look, "Try it, Nikel and I'll ruin everything you hold dear. It'd be a shame for something to happen to your boyfriend. Or maybe your frail little friend over there. Are you letting him suck your cock too?"

Blaine broke away from where he stood holding Kurt and ran right up to Jamie, getting in his face, "Don't you talk about him like that! Any of them. You're a bitter pathetic person who'll never know happiness. I'd feel sorry for you if you weren't such horrible poisonous thing who doesn't even deserve to be called a human."

"I suggest you take a few steps back before you really regret your actions." Jamie hissed.

"How about you leave? Go far away and leave us all the hell alone."

"Blaine." Kurt whimpered, hoping to get him away before Jamie did something.

Jamie lightly pushed Blaine making him take a step back, "Better listen to your little boyfriend, Blaine. You wouldn't want to get hurt. Or your boyfriend. I mean I'm sure I can easily pay Karofsky's bail and invite him to visit. I'm sure he'd love to see Kurt."

Blaine didn't even think. He let a deep growl and threw his body into Jamie's knocking them both to the ground.

"Blaine!" Nikel yelled out.

"Hey! Break it up!" Their Art teacher, Mr. Wilson, came around the corner and pulled the two boys apart, "Both of you are coming with me to visit the Dean. You know the rules. I suggest the rest of you go back to your dorms before curfew."

Kurt and Nikel watched helplessly as Jamie and Blaine were escorted away. The two boys that were with Jamie quickly took off.

"Blaine's not going to get expelled, is he Nikel?" Kurt asked fearfully.

"I don't know, Kurt."

Together they made their way back to Kurt and Zach's dorm.

"Wazz goin' on?" Zach mumbled as they flipped on the light.

"Sorry to wake you Zach." Nikel said, sitting down on Zach's bed by his arm, "Blaine pretty much tackled Jamie to the ground and a teacher saw. They're talking to the Dean now."

"Seriously?" Zach shot up much more alert.

Kurt sat down on his bed cradling his head in his hands, "Seriously."

"Go Blaine." Kurt and Nikel both stared at him causing him to shrug, "What? I mean it sucks he's in trouble but you have to admit you wish it was you who smacked that little snot-nose brat."

"Oh definitely." Nikel agreed, leaning back so he was against Zach's shoulder.

"So what happened exactly?" Zach asked, looking down at the boy leaning against his shoulder.

Nikel quietly told Zach the whole story while Kurt paced around the room throwing in comments every now and again. By the end of the story Zach was throwing around his own creative words in anger.

The three sat around for 2 hours waiting for Blaine, getting more and more anxious as time passed. Finally the door to Kurt and Zach's dorm room opened and in walked Blaine. He immediately went over to Kurt and wrapped him in a hug.

"It's okay, Kurt, it's okay." Blaine whispered in Kurt's ear though Kurt wasn't sure if he was reassuring him or himself.

"So…how did it go?" Zach asked as Blaine and Kurt separated.

Blaine walked over to Kurt's bed and sat down, pulling Kurt with him, "I was given a warning. The incident -as the Dean called it- is going on my record." He moved to lean against Kurt, "I also have to step down as Junior RA for the rest of this year and can't take over as RA next year."

"It's April. The school year is practically done! Can they really replace you right now?" Nikel exclaimed.

"The Dean wanted me to report to you and inform you of my resignation. He also wanted you in his office 9 am sharp tomorrow to go over the rest of the school year." He looked around at the three guys in the room, "Come on guys don't look so glum. It honestly could've been a lot worse. In fact, it should've been. Jamie stepped in and said we just were messing around. I don't think the Dean believes him but let it slide. Jamie has detention for all of next week."

"Jamie helped you? Why? I mean not that I'm not grateful but…it's Jamie." Kurt couldn't fathom it.

"He has to be planning something." Nikel insisted, "Jamie wouldn't do it unless it somehow benefited him or ruined someone else."

"As much as I hate to say it we'll have to wait it out. Jamie won't play his hand yet." Zach added, stifling a yawn.

"I agree with Zach. We'll discuss it more tomorrow. It's getting late and I have a meeting early now apparently. And somebody has to do their history project."

"Slave driver. Shut up now I have a headache." Zach muttered, snuggling down into the blankets. Nikel stood up so he could use the bathroom to change into sleepwear.

"Yeah, yeah Zach. Good night."

* * *

><p>Saturday afternoon found the boys sitting in the library, trying to help Zach finish his history project. Trying being the operative word. Zach was putting up one hell of fight.<p>

"I'm bored."

"Shut up and look up more on gangrene. I want this project done." Kurt snapped back, while Zach stuck his tongue out at him.

"I want to go outside. Its drizzling and I want to dance in it."

Blaine sighed, "Okay, Zach. You write two paragraphs on gangrene and we'll go outside and play in the rain." He thought for a moment before adding, "As long as we don't tell Nikel."

"Stick in the mud." Zach muttered. Kurt wasn't sure if he was referring to Blaine or Nikel.

"Here Zach this is all the information you'll need about Civil War food." Wes piped up, handing over a piece of paper, "You just need to put it into your own words."

"I just finished their weaponry information." David claimed, throwing the paper in the middle of the table next to Wes'.

"Thanks for helping guys." Zach muttered, as he continued to write furiously in his notebook, "History sucks."

The boys rolled their eyes, but didn't say anything. There was no use arguing with Zach.

"When will Nikel be back?" David asked, stacking books so he could put them away.

"No idea. He left right after his meeting with the Dean to go visit his parents."

Zach snorted, still writing information down, "If he doesn't come back by dinner assume dead."

"Full of confidence I see." Kurt dead-panned. Zach just shrugged.

A few minutes of silence were quickly interrupted by Zach, "I'm done! Sweet heavenly everything I'm done. Take that homework! Suck my-"

"ZACH!" Kurt cut it. Zach just stuck his tongue out again before shoving all the papers into his bag.

"Can we go? Can we? Please?"

"Fine." Blaine sighed.

"Hell yeah!" Zach yelled taking off for the front doors. Rolling their eyes the boys followed their enthused friend.

Zach dropped his backpack under the awning and ran straight into the rain stopping to spin in a circle. He held it arms out and held is head up to stare at the sky and falling rain. He finally stopped spinning only to laugh as Wes and David were in the mists of a wrestling match to see who could knock who into the mud. Kurt came to stand beside Zach. Blaine followed wrapping his arms around Kurt from behind.

"My money's on David." Blaine murmured chuckling.

"Nah, Wes will win." Zach replied with confidence, before speaking louder, "That stick he keeps up his ass will help keep him rigid and upright."

"You're awful, Zach." Kurt snickered.

Finally Wes pushed David to the ground and stood over him laughing, doing a victory dance.

"Told you." Zach said.

David, tired of Wes' showboating, hit him in the leg forcing him to fall next to him.

"Hog pile!" Zach yelled out running right over to the boys and jumping on them, "Come on you two!"

Blaine walked around Kurt as if to head to the pile of boys.

"Oh no, Zach. No way am I going in the mud." Kurt denied backing up a few steps for good measure. Blaine turned around and stared at Kurt.

"Seriously? Don't you know Zach always gets his way?"

"Not this time."

Blaine smirked, "If you say so."

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"Because of me." Nikel's voice boomed from behind Kurt as he was lifted up and carried over to the mud pile of boys. He dropped him in the mud next to David before taking a seat next to Zach. Blaine quickly plopped down next to Kurt, giving him an apologetic smile as he grabbed his hand.

"Why are we sitting in the mud?" Nikel asked, looking at Zach.

"It's raining, Nikel. Why do you think?" Zach replied, with an eye roll, "Wes and David were having a wrestling match and we all ended up in the mud."

"Thank you for that crystal clear explanation, Zach."

"How did your meeting go?" Kurt asked.

Nikel sighed, "Wes will be taking Blaine's stop as Junior RA for the rest of this year even though he's a Senior. Next year is still up in the air."

"Oh joy. Babysitting duty." Wes bitched.

"And your parents?" Kurt pressed on.

Nikel shrugged, "Fine." He looked at Zach, "Mom wants you to come to dinner since you didn't come for Christmas break."

"That's it?" Zach said, "They're fine with-with us?"

"Mom claims she knew there was something between us all along. Women, ugh."

Zach scoffed before frowning, "And your dad?"

Nikel's shoulders slumped, "Suddenly had urgent business that needed attending to and left. Could've been worse I suppose. At least they know now, I'm not hiding and Jamie has nothing."

"Did you call Drew yet?"

"I tried. He didn't answer but Mom says they're out of state visiting her parents with the kid so I won't be able to get ahold of him until at least Monday."

"So now we play the waiting game." David summarized.

"Ugh, the waiting game sucks." Zach whined, flailing backwards so he was laying on the ground, "Like history."

"Did you at least finish your project Zach?"

"Yes mother."

"Good, now let's get out of this rain. It can't be good for you." Nikel replied, standing up before hold his hand out to Zach to help him up.

"Well…it was fun while it lasted." Zach sighed, grabbing Nikel's hand pulling himself up. He gave Nikel a quick peck on the lips before running for dorms, "I call first shower!"

"Damn it." Kurt muttered, "He always does that."

As they all walked towards the door Blaine laughed, "You'd think you'd be used to it by now."

"I'll never be used to Zach." Kurt said, solemnly.

"A wise man." Wes said, clasping Kurt on the shoulders.

Zach came running back to them then, giving his best stern look, "Come on slow pokes!"

Nikel reached forwards and grabbed Zach's hand lacing their fingers together, "Fine, fine lets go."

Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand in the same manner and all six boys made their way back to Warwick Dormitory, laughing as they joked and ribbed each other. For a few minutes all the pain of the last few months drifted away and the uncertain future was gone. They were just teenage boys having fun. The old saying was true: Ignorance was bliss.

* * *

><p>The rest of the weekend went by quickly. Kurt and Blaine went to spend most of Sunday with Kurt's family while Wes, David, Zach and Nikel went to check in on Sammy. On Sunday night, Nikel held a meeting in Warwick to explain Wes replacing Blaine as junior RA. Most of the dorm cheered as they heard how Blaine "attacked" Jamie. Nikel rolled his eyes but didn't stop the rest of the dorm from devising up ways to make Jamie miserable for messing with their dorm brothers. Loyal bunch of weirdo's.<p>

It was now Monday and anyone in a class with Jamie made sure to crack a joke about his detention or the fact he was taken down by "the hobbit of Warwick Dorms."

"Dude, Jamie looks ready to strangle someone." Zach commented as he took a bite of his pizza.

Nikel looked over at Jamie's table and snorted, "Apparently his morning classes were uncomfortable. Damien said even Maxstoke isn't happy with him."

"Well I'm willing to bet his afternoon classes will be just as much fun." David piped up, reaching his fork over to steal some of Jonathon's fries.

"Hey! Eat your own shit."

Wes laughed, "Why do you think I made sure to sit across the table? David is a food thief."

"I already knew that. I just hoped he had outgrew that childish behavior," scolded Jonathon.

"Nope. All food is fair game…except for Kurt's, because salad gross.

"Idiot." Blaine muttered. Kurt nodded in agreement.

"You are all idiots."

Making annoyed faces the whole table turned their heads to view Jamie who stood behind Nikel glaring at them. Zach calmly put down his pizza and smiled sweetly at Jamie.

"How are you Jamie? Have you had a pleasant morning?"

"Shut up, you waste of space." He focused his glare on Nikel, "I got a call from my parents before lunch. They want me home tonight. Not unusual but the fact my brother, Drew, will be there as well is. What did you do?"

"Me? I didn't do anything. I just called Drew this morning to ask how his trip went." Nikel replied, shrugging.

Zach tilted his head back as if thinking, "Oh that's right. He handed the phone over to me and I may have mentioned a little something about your parents. I don't know what happened after that. He had to get off the phone soon after to call his parents."

"You have just made the biggest mistake of your life, Zachariah." Jamie snarled, "I will get you back for this."

"Oh give it a rest, James." Zach groaned, rolling his eyes, "Maybe you should drop the little rich boy act and take some responsibility for the trouble you caused. You're a scared bratty child that knows he'd be nothing if he didn't have his father to clean up all his messes. God I feel like every time we see you we have the same exact conversation. You're a pompous little prick. You're parents do everything for you. Then you come back with your Draco Malfoy act of 'my father will hear about this.' It's all really exhausting."

"Did you just quote Harry Potter, you simple minded piece of shit." Jamie sputtered incredulous, "You really are mentally unstable."

Zach snorted, turning to face Jamie fully, "I'm mentally unstable? Seriously? Kettle meet pot. I didn't send e-mails to torture people to their deaths over some latent homosexual feelings you had for your best friend."

"What did you just say?" Jamie's voice took a dangerous edge.

"Zach." Nikel warned, but Zach ignored him.

"I said you couldn't stand Gabriel giving his attention to any other gay guy because you wanted his attention focused solely on you. You went after Nikel about Loretta to cover up the fact it was Gabriel you wanted all along. My, my Jamie I bet you spent many of nights lying in bed wanking to the idea of Gabriel finally wanting you back."

By now a couple of nearby tables were also looking at the group. Jamie's face was red, his hands were clenched into fists and he was shaking in rage.

"How dare you?" Jamie hissed, "You'll pay for this, Zach, mark my words. I'll make you pay."

Noticing a teacher heading their way Jamie quickly turned and stalked away. The teacher gave them a look before heading back where the other teachers were seated watching the students.

Nikel smacked Zach in the shoulder, "Are you crazy?!"

"Ow." Zach whined.

"I should smack you again. What were you thinking?!"

"I think?" He cringed when Nikel raised his hand again, "I'm joking. I'm joking. I was just try to rile Jamie up. Kids wound way too tight. It was kinda fun."

Blaine rubbed his forehead, "I think you started a war, Zach."

"Pssh I'm not afraid of Jamie. He's all bark and no bite. He has words but nothing to actually back them up. Especially with Drew talking to his parents again."

Kurt stood just as the warning bell rang to signal the end of lunch, "I don't know, Zach, I think you're playing with fire."

Kurt reached over and grabbed Blaine's hand. With a quick wave to the rest the two boys left the cafeteria hand in hand.

"Aw, our baby's all grown up. Look at him." Zach cooed as the rest of the boys moved to leave as well. Nikel stopped so he was shoulder-to-shoulder with Zach. He grabbed Zach's hand and forced him to move so he was looking at him.

"I agree with Kurt." Was all he said before he dropped Zach's hand and walked away. Zach stood there alone for another minute before rolling his eyes.

"Nothing more than a glorified bogyman." He muttered to no one in particular before heading to his own class.

By the end of the school day it seemed the whole school was talking about the "stand-off" that happened during lunch. Of course the story was blown widely out of context. By the time the new glorified version reached Zach he was laughing hysterically.

"All that's missing is me turning into the Hulk and smashing Jamie's face in." Zach laughed, leaning on Nikel as they walked back to the dorms.

"For an all boy school the gossip around here is outrageous." Kurt observed, walking behind them with Blaine.

"Yeah well when you first transferred you were an alien prince here to learn about our culture." Blaine replied, giving Kurt a bright smile.

"Seriously? I see realism is lost on you boys."

Zach unlocked the door and entered their dorm room jumping on his bed, "What's realism? Is that like reality? Because that just sounds awful."

"Anything normal sounds awful to you, Zach." Kurt quipped, sitting down on the floor leaning against his bed. Blaine sat next to him flinging his arm around Kurt's shoulder so Kurt could rest his head against Blaine's.

Nikel grabbed a desk chair and sat down straddling the back of it.

"So how long is Jamie's detention?" Kurt asked.

Nikel snorted, "A whole fucking half hour every day this week."

"That's good I guess. Since he has to go visit his parents after detention today," Zach pointed out, "Lucky for him, his parents only live 10 minutes away."

"I don't want to talk about Jamie." Nikel interrupted, "I'm sick of talking about my cousin."

"Fine." Zach agreed, "Let's talk about your post-graduation plans."

"No, Zach. Now is not a good time."

"It's never a good time!"

"Should we leave?" Blaine offered.

"No," Nikel said, quickly.

"No." Zach agreed, "You two go make out on Kurt's bed or something. I'm going to talk to Nikel either way. Actually, you two better stay. We might need a mediator when I go to knock Nikel's teeth out."

"Why is this so important to you, Zach? Plans change; people's minds change. It happens all the time."

Zach growled jumping off his bed to stand in front of Nikel. Blaine and Kurt also jumped up just in case they had to restrain him quickly.

"I've explained this to you. I don't know how else you make you understand. This was one of my worst fears when it came to us. That you'd change all your plans because of me. Because of this warped sense of loyalty or…or something! I can't live with myself knowing I'm holding you back, don't you understand?"

"Don't you understand?" Nikel pleaded, "I talked about the Marines because that's what my father wanted. He wanted me to join the Marines, marry some nice upper class girl and have a couple of kids. He wanted me to be him. Clayton turned out be a letdown so it fell to me. I don't want the life he had planned for me. Don't you understand, Zach? I talked about the Marines; I dated Loretta, but it wasn't my life." Nikel stood up from his chair and headed towards the door. He stopped with his hand on the handle, "If it was, I wouldn't have walked away from Loretta that day, but I did."

Zach sighed and approached Nikel. He gently pulled on his shoulder turning him until he was facing Zach once again. Zach pushed forward knocking Nikel flat against the door as he kissed him, hard. He broke away from him, smiling.

"If that's truly what you want then fine. For you to be happy is all I ask. I just don't want you to give up on something that you want."

"That'd be you." Nikel replied, touching foreheads with Zach, "I want you. How about this then? Give me one year after graduation. If I don't find something I want to do for the rest of my life I'll looking into the Marines again."

"Fine. Love you…I guess." Zach agreed.

"Love you too, dork," Nikel teased capturing Zach's lips again. He wrapped his arms around Zach pulling him closer.

"Ahem. There are people present." Kurt coughed, turning a nice bright red.

Zach pulled his lips away from Nikel's, "Then leave."

"You're blocking the exit," Blaine pointed out.

Zach laughed, extracting himself from Nikel to settle back on his bed, "Care to join me Nikel? Get away from the door so they can leave before Kurt turns permanently red."

As Nikel moved over to Zach, Blaine and Kurt made a quick exit.

"Stay off my bed!" Kurt yelled as he slammed the door. Kurt turned to look at Blaine, "So…now what?"

Blaine shrugged, "My rooms free."

"Movie?"

"Perfect."

* * *

><p>Dinner ended up being a boring affair. Blaine and Kurt decided to leave Dalton for dinner since they didn't get a chance to have a date night over the busy weekend. David had a study group for a huge advance placement Calculus final. Nikel and Wes had to take off early to go over his two months of dorm duties leaving Zach to finish dinner by himself. Since he was eating such a late dinner most of the other students were gone, leaving the cafeteria looking quite eerie.<p>

"You look happy…for a sick person."

Zach looked over and rolled his eyes, "Don't you have a crazy person to fawn over?"

"I broke up with Nikel." Loretta quipped back sitting down next to Zach, "You don't look too terrible. I'm impressed. Plus I heard he found someone more insane than himself."

"Yes you're looking less wicked witch-like yourself. And Nikel wishes he was on my level."

"Of course he does, Zach, of course he does."

"What are you doing here, Loretta?"

"Jamie called me in a fit of rage. Apparently some meeting with his parents didn't go well. I came here to calm him down, but he isn't here yet." She raised as eyebrow at the less than innocent look on Zach's face, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this meeting, would you?"

"This parent meeting could maybe include Drew's presence. I'm not saying one way or another."

"You are playing with fire." Loretta stood, "I suppose I should check to see if he's at Maxstoke yet."

She took two steps before stopping and turning to look at Zach, "It was nice to see you, Zach. Really. You look happier."

"You're scaring me, Loretta."

"You really aren't funny, Idiot."

"You just don't have a sense of humor, Blonde." He watched her walk away, "Loretta being nice. That was beyond creepy. And now I'm talking to myself. Good."

He finished the last of his food and left the cafeteria just as the cook gave him a dark look. It was, after all, closing time for them. He walked towards the back of the main building as it was the shortest way back to the dorms, but it was also completely devoid of people. He really hated getting dinner so late in the evening. Most people were inside their dorm hall's studying. There was nobody around to tease or yell a random joke at. Darn.

Suddenly he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders and he was thrown into the nearest pillar. Zach turned to face whoever pushed him only to have Jamie punch him across the face forcing his head to slam against the pillar behind him.

"You son of a bitch! You ruined everything!" Jamie screamed in between punches before using his forearm to hold Zach against the pillar by his throat. Blood ran down Zach's face from a broken nose and split lip.

"You ruined yourself." Zach gasped out, before spitting a mouth full of blood onto the floor. Jamie punched him in the stomach causing him to lurch forward before slamming his head against the pillar again.

Pain exploded in Zach's head as Jamie forced it against the pillar again and again. He felt like he may have cracked a lower rib from the punch to the stomach, but his face hurt the worse. That and the pulsing throb that was his head. Like he had the worse migraine ever felt on the face of the Earth. He felt something slick run down the side of his face and neck.

"JAMIE!" Zach faintly heard somebody scream before he felt Jamie being pried away from him.

Jamie got two more good punches to the face in before he finally took a step back from Zach. Zach tried to focus his blurry eyes, but could only see a blob of yellow next to the blue that as Jamie's blazer. He leaned over and threw up on the floor in front of him. His head hurt so very badly was his last thought before everything went black after that.

"My parents practically disowned me, because of this piece of shit." Jamie spat, looking at the newcomer, "And what do you care, Loretta?"

"He has a brain tumor, you idiot!" Loretta moved forward and caught Zach just as he collapsed. She wasn't strong enough to hold him up and ended up falling to her knees on the ground next to him. She gently touched Zach's face, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Zach." She whispered, "Wake up. Come on, Zach, wake up."

"Leave him Loretta, he isn't worth our time."

Loretta started shaking as the tears fell, she stood up and faced Jamie "Get out of here, Jamie. Run like a coward with your tail between your legs. You're just like my aunt, blaming others for your problems."

Jamie smacked her across the face, "You're a bitch." But he listened to her. Jamie left and Loretta turned and knelt back down next to Zach.

"Zach, please wake up." She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed 911.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"I-I need an ambulance." Loretta stuttered into the phone, "My…friend he's hurt and there's blood. He's bleeding out of a cut on his head…a lot."

"Ma'am, remain calm. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot, it may not be as serious-"

"Don't tell me what's serious or not!" She screamed into the phone, "He's unconscious…and bleeding…and it's everywhere!" She reached out and gently stroked the side of his head that wasn't covered in blood, his wig lying useless on the floor. "He has a brain tumor and he won't wake up."

"We're sending an ambulance."

"Please hurry…" She didn't even register that she dropped her phone. She was too focused on the person in front of her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, "I'm so sorry. I should've done something; I should've known not to leave you when I found you in the cafeteria. I'm sorry. Please wake up. I'm sorry."

"Loretta apologizing the world must be ending." Zach muttered, opening his eyes just a fraction.

"Oh god, Zach."

"I look hot right?"

Loretta choked out a laugh, "Yeah, smokin'."

"Liar." His eyes started to shut.

"Stay awake, Zach." Loretta pleaded, "Do you hear that. Sirens. The ambulance is almost here. Stay awake."

"Tell Nikel I love him." Zach slurred.

"Don't say that shit. You need to stay awake and tell me how awful I am."

"Okay." But Zach's eyes closed as Loretta heard footsteps approaching.

She took a step back as the paramedics and a few teachers ran into the open area. She expected more students to come rushing over but figured the ambulance lights couldn't been seen from the front of the building. While the paramedics worked on stabilizing Zach for transportation, two police officers came over to Loretta and gently asked questions about what happened. She told them what she saw. As the paramedics started to move Zach down the hall Loretta followed them while the police escorted by two teachers headed to Maxstoke Dorms. She knew they'd check the security tapes. Jamie made a major miscalculation in his rage.

When she moved to follow Zach into the ambulance they stopped her, "Sorry Miss family only."

"I'm his sister." The two paramedics riding in the back looked at each other before nodding.

"Okay. Come on."

She owed it to Nikel to be with Zach while they transported him away. She owed it to Zach to. After all it took her way too long to look past her jealousy. She never got to apologize for that. Sighing at the thought, Loretta sat there watching as they hooked all these machines up to Zach but had to look away as he started having a seizure. They couldn't leave soon enough.

* * *

><p>Blaine and Kurt were driving back to Dalton after a nice dinner out together. They sat in a comfortable silence while Blaine drove them. They weren't far from Dalton.<p>

"What do you think everyone's up to?" Blaine asked, pulling Kurt's focus from the window where an ambulance just went past a few streets over.

"Nikel's probably ready to pull his hair out trying to get Wes to cooperate with the rules of being an RA." Kurt said with a laugh, "Not that you followed the rules with all our sleepovers."

"Hey those were necessary rule breaking." Blaine defended, with mock offense.

They pulled into Dalton and Kurt frowned, "Uh Blaine, is that Jamie being hauled away in a police car?"

Blaine had no response as he stopped his vehicle to watch Jamie get loaded into said police car. What the hell?

"Hurry up and park. I want to see if Nikel or Zach knows anything about this." Kurt urged. Blaine quickly parked and the boys made their way up to Warwick dorm. Kurt happened to glance behind him and see the main building was closed off which was unusual. He didn't think too much more on it as they entered Warwick and made their way to Nikel's room.

"Well you don't look happy so I'm guessing you don't know yet." Blaine said as soon as they entered the room.

"Know what?"

"Jamie was being carted away by a police officer when we got here." Kurt explained.

Nikel laughed, "Seriously? That's awesome. I wonder what happened."

"No idea." Blaine replied, "But it was very satisfying to watch."

Nikel got out of his chair, "Come on lets go grab Zach and tell him. He'll love this."

They all made their way to Kurt and Zach's dorm, but found it empty inside. Kurt sat down on the edge of his bed while Nikel frowned, checking his phone.

"He should've been done with dinner a while ago."

"Maybe he saw something shiny." Wes said, with a shrug.

"He's not answering his phone." Nikel sighed, pushing end of his phone. Almost immediately his phone lit up with an incoming call.

"Is it Zach?" Blaine asked.

Nikel frowned, "No, it's Loretta." He responded before clicking the button to put it on speaker, "Loretta?"

"Nikel." Her voice was shaking making Nikel frown further, "Am I on speaker? I hear an echo."

"Yeah, I'm with Blaine, Kurt, and Wes. Do you need me to take it off speaker?"

"No its fine." She paused for a minute taking a deep breath, "Nikel."

"You already said my name once, Loretta-wait are you crying?"

"Nikel its Zach."

Nikel nearly dropped his phone in surprise. He wasn't expecting Loretta to call about anything to do with Zach. All the other boys looked as shocked as him and maybe a little fearful.

"What about Zach?"

"You need to come to the hospital. It's bad. Jamie-Jamie he, oh god, there was so much blood."

"Loretta, calm down." Nikel said emotionlessly. He was so numb from shock of Zach and blood in the same sentence. Zach was fine. He had to be fine, "We'll be there soon."

He hung up the phone and mechanically grabbed his keys and wallet.

"I'll drive." Blaine interrupted.

Together the four boys made their way to the hospital in complete silence. If they didn't talk about it, it wouldn't be real. For what seemed like an eternity later they finally arrived at the hospital. They made their way through the hospital before finding Loretta hunched over in a plastic hospital chair.

"Loretta?"

Gasping, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Nikel, crying, "I'm sorry, Nikel, I'm sorry. I should've been there. I should've known Jamie would be angry and take it out on him. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

"Shh, Lore, it's okay. Can you tell me what happened?" He maneuvered her to sit back in the chair everyone else sat as well gathering around her.

"I don't know. Jamie called me mad about something with his parents. I went to Maxstoke to wait for him but when he didn't show I went back to the main building to see if he was there." She hiccupped, "He had Zach against a pillar and he just kept hitting him. There was blood and Zach lost consciousness. Jamie ran. Zach woke up for a minute, but it didn't last long. I heard the paramedics say something about coma. I don't know."

"Your cheek is bruised." Nikel noted, trying to process what she said.

"Jamie hit me when I called him a coward."

"Have you heard any more on Zach?" Blaine asked, when no one seemed to know what to say.

"No. They put him in surgery. I don't know why. Maria showed up about two minutes before you. She's talking to the doctors I think. I didn't get to apologize to Zach for always being such a bitch to him."

"You can apologize when he gets out of surgery." Nikel said sharply, "He'll be fine."

The group fell silent. Nobody dared contradict Nikel. They were all hoping for the same thing. They waited over two hours in complete silence for Maria to come back and talk to them. Nikel sat stiff as a board next to Loretta, who was looking at her hands. She could still see the blood on them from when she held Zach even though she washed them raw once she got to the hospital. Wes sat across from them staring blankly at the TV set up in the waiting room while Kurt and Blaine sat next to him; Kurt leaning on Blaine's shoulder. Wes had gotten a hold of David and he was there on the other side of Wes just as silent as the rest.

Finally Maria entered the waiting room, looking absolutely exhausted. Nikel jumped up and led the woman to the chair he had been occupying before kneeling down in front of her.

"Maria?" He whispered, afraid she was in shock and raising his voice any higher would startle her. She didn't react at all to his voice. Nikel tried again, "Maria, is Zach…" He couldn't finish that sentence, but the name of her son seemed to finally snap her out of her daze.

"Oh Nikel." She said weakly leaning back against chair, "The surgery went well. Or so they tell me. They had to relieve some of the pressure on his brain."

"Pressure on his brain?" Nikel repeated, quietly. That didn't sound good.

Maria wiped her eyes, nodding, "They said he's been diagnosed with ICH. Intracranial Hemorrhaging. Blood in the brain and from the tumor. They released some of the pressure with surgery. He arrived unconscious which apparently isn't good. Everything depends on him waking up. The longer he's out…" She started crying. Nikel reached forward to hug her, "He can die. Almost half of the people die. The longer he's out the more likely it'll be. My baby could die."

"He'll wake up, Maria, Zach's stubborn." Nikel whispered, rocking her slowly to calm her down.

"Even if he does. They said the brain can't take that kind of trauma without some damage. Who knows what he'll be like upon awaking."

"But at least he'll be awake." Nikel reminded her, "We'll deal with it when he wakes up."

The rest of the group watched as Nikel calmed down Maria, tears streaming down their faces. Zach didn't deserve this. Honestly, nobody deserved this. After a few minutes Maria pulled back from Nikel.

"You boys need to go back to Dalton. They won't let you see him tonight. His face is pretty banged up."

It took a lot of convincing but eventually the boys left to go back to Dalton. Nikel promised to keep Loretta updating as she took off back to school as well. They wouldn't see Zach tonight and they had to go to school the next day. It was going to be a long night.

It turned out the night was much shorter than the school day as they waited for it to end so they could go to the hospital. Finally it did end and they piled into Wes' van to go to the hospital. Once arriving the all went into the same waiting room they were in the night before. Maria was already there a strained smile on her face.

"He hasn't woke up at all, but his vitals haven't changed either so that's something. If you want to go see him you can, but it has to be one at a time."

Nikel went first. He moved down the hallway and entered the room Zach was currently in. He stifled a sob at seeing his boyfriend. Zach's face was swollen from all the hits to face he took and his head was wrapped from the surgery.

Nikel sat in the uncomfortable chair by the bed and took Zach's hand, "Again, Zach? We really need to talk about your fondness for hospital beds." Nikel sighed, growing serious, "You need to wake up, Zach. I'm told people can hear while they're in comas so listen to me, Zach. I need you to wake up. I need you to be okay. I have no idea what to do with my life without you and I refuse to find out…so wake up."

He sat in Zach's room for fifteen minutes before leaving to let the next person in. One by one the Dalton boys entered the room and spent fifteen minutes with Zach. They continued this until visiting hours were over and they had to leave.

* * *

><p>A week passed and Zach still didn't wake up. The boys visited him every day even Sammy managed to make it to the hospital a few times. They knew though the chances of him waking up went down the longer he was unconscious as well as state of mind if he did wake up. It was a dreary Tuesday when Nikel pulled up to the hospital by himself and followed the familiar path to Zach's room. He took his usual seat next to Zach's bed and grabbed his hand.<p>

"It's going to rain. I know you're going to be pissed when realize you missed it." Nikel started, laughing, "Do you remember the first time we met, Zach? We were both freshman at Dalton."

**-Flashback-**

"**Pick a bed yet?" Nikel asked, seeing his roommate already in the room.**

"**Uh no…I'm guessing you're Nicholas?"**

"**Nikel."**

"**What?"**

"**Nikel my name is Nikel, not Nicholas. I hate that name. It's not unique, it's boring."**

"…**can I call you Nick?"**

"**No."**

"**Liken?"**

"**What?"**

"**Nikel backwards."**

**Nikel smiled, "I think we're going to get along just fine." Then he wiped the smile off his face, "But no, just Nikel."**

"**I'm Zachariah, long ass name I know. Call me Zach."**

"**Okay, so did you pick a bed yet?"**

"**Nope just got in the room. How do you want to pick?"**

"**I don't care just take one."**

"**Okay let me see." He went to the bed closest the door and jumped on it. He jumped up and down a few times before smiling, "Yep this one's mine. It's springy and I can dance and jump on it. Oh and sing, I can definitely stand on it and sing."**

"**Do you ever shut up?"**

"**Not while I'm awake and I've been known to sleep talk so not while I'm asleep either."**

**Nikel nodded slowly, "I'm suffocating you if you get too annoying, just an early warning."**

"**It's only fair." **

"**How about we skip the whole unloading crap into the room and go straight to the lunch hall for some food. I'm starving and I want to see what I'm in for."**

**Zach's eyes became wide and shiny, "It's like you read my mind. You're a god among men."**

**Laughing Nikel wrapped an arm casually around Zach's shoulder and pulled him close, "My older brother went to school here and says breakfast is the best they make these waffles that are out of this world."**

"**I'm in heaven already." **

**They continued down the cafeteria, Nikel's arm still around Zach's shoulder. They were passing jokes back and forth like they had been friends for years.**

"**So do you play Call of Duty by any chance?" Nikel asked as they walked.**

"**If by play you mean have an obsession with then yes."**

**Nikel smirked, "Z, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful epic friendship."**

"**Z?"**

"**Come on, Z, let's eat and we'll go back to the room and see if we can set up my Xbox in the commons area."**

"**That plan sounds perfect except we need some chips, I don't care what meal we're just about to be eating, COD needs chips. Other than that, I'm in, Nike."**

**-End Flashback-**

Nikel finished, laughing, "That was the first time I've ever been called Nike. You were crazy even back then but I just knew you were something special. I just didn't realize how special you would become to me."

Nikel looked behind him at the window as a few drops of rain started appearing, "And now it's raining. You're missing it, Zach. Remember our freshman year when you refused to come inside and teachers had to chase you down. You're something else."

**-Flashback-**

"**Nike." Silence. "Nike." Silence. "Nike."**

"**What!" **

"**It's raining."**

**Nikel twitched and turned to look at Zach, "That's an understatement. It's pouring outside, Z. Any particular reason you're interrupting my algebra homework to imitate the weatherman."**

"**Because it's raining."**

"**And?" Sometimes his roommate was so weird. Okay, all the time.**

"**We have to go outside."**

"**It's heavy rain, Z, you're funny."**

**Nikel watched as Zach stood up and headed for the door, "I'm serious."**

**Zach left the room. Nikel started on the next problem before giving up. He had to figure out what Zach was up to. **

**He quickly found Zach and stood there dumbfounded while Zach ran around outside like an escapee of the insane asylum. **

"**What the hell is your roommate doing?" **

**Nikel looked at Wes, who had the room next to them, standing next to him.**

"**I have no idea." **

**They watched as Zach jumped, dancing and ran around all the while rain pouring down on him. They watched as Zach stopped when two teachers stood at the door on the other side of the building and yelled for Zach to come inside. They, then, watched as said teachers ran out into the rain to catch Zach when he refused to come quietly. They were hysterical when one of the teachers finally tackled Zach to the ground to stop him.**

"**Think he'll be expelled for that one."**

"**I hope not. He's the most entertaining person I've ever met." Nikel replied, watching Zach get hauled off to the Dean. Wet clothes and all.**

**-End Flashback-**

"God our first year together was nuts, Zach."

"Sounds like it." Nikel jumped and looked to see Kurt and Blaine standing by the door.

"Sorry. We thought we'd stop in for a bit to see him. Any changes?" Kurt asked, stepping further into the room.

"No, I mean he had another seizure, but nothing's changed. Which is both good and bad. Mostly bad, I think." Zach has had a couple of seizure since falling comatose.

"Is Maria here?" Blaine asked.

"She left when I arrived to check in at work."

"Have any more stories about Zach?" Kurt asked, sitting in the extra chair in the room, Blaine perched on the arm rest.

"I have thousands." He replied, before retelling any story that popped into his mind. Their freshman and sophomore years together seemed to be the most amusing. Soon visiting hours were up and the boys had to leave again.

* * *

><p>Friday was rainy again. A Zach kind of day and Nikel found himself at the hospital. The doctors were growing more concerned over Zach's comatose state. His seizures were more frequent now and his organs seemed to be failing.<p>

"Wake up, Z." Nikel pleaded, holding his boyfriends hand. It'd be two weeks on Monday and Nikel was just exhausted. The rain pelted the window behind him seemingly tuned into his dreary mood.

_If I had only known__  
>It was the last walk in the rain<em>_  
>I'd keep you out for hours in the storm<em>_  
>I would hold your hand<em>_  
>Like a life line to my heart<em>_  
>Underneath the thunder we'd be warm<em>_  
>If I had only known<em>_  
>It was our last walk in the rain<em>

"If you wake up I promise never to complain about your weird sleep talking or the fact you like to hog the blankets. God, I won't complain about anything you say. I just want to hear your annoying chatter again." Nikel smacked his head against the back of the chair, "Tell me about how hump day coffee is the best thing on the planet or why the library should be used as a torture chamber for criminals. Just talk to me."

_If I had only known__  
>I'd never hear your voice again<em>_  
>I'd memorize each thing you ever said<em>_  
>And on those lonely nights<em>_  
>I could think of them once more<em>_  
>Keep your words alive inside my head<em>_  
>If I had only known<em>_  
>I'd never hear your voice again<em>

Tears slipped out of Nikel's eyes without his permission, "I'm so sorry I didn't realize sooner. That you had to stand back and watch me with someone else. I never apologize for being so dense. I'm sorry. So much time was wasted."

_You were the treasure in my hand__  
>You were the one who always stood beside me<em>_  
>So unaware I foolishly believed<em>_  
>That you would always be there<em>_  
>But then there came a day<em>_  
>And I turned my head and you slipped away<em>

"Nikel." Wes, David, Kurt and Blaine all came into the room.

"I'm-"

"You don't need to finish. Come on, Maria wants some time alone with Zach. Let's head back to Dalton."

Nikel reluctantly agreed, "Okay." He leaned over and kissed Zach on the forehead.

_If I had only known__  
>It was my last night by your side<em>_  
>I'd pray a miracle would stop the dawn<em>_  
>And when you'd smile at me<em>_  
>I would look into your eyes<em>_  
>And make sure you know my love<em>_  
>For you goes on and on<em>_  
>If I had only known<em>_  
>If I had only known<em>_  
>The love I would've shown<em>_  
>If I had only known<em>

They all drove back to Dalton and as they headed inside Nikel stopped.

"Nikel?"

Nikel looked up at the pouring sky and threw up his hands. Slowly be began to spin in a circle, all the while watching the rain come down on him.

After a few turns he stopped and looked at the group, "Zach always wanted me to dance in the rain. Said it was soothing."

He didn't say anything else, just continued into Dalton the rest of the boys following him.

_It was the last walk in the rain_

* * *

><p>Saturday was sunny. Like really sunny. The complete opposite of the rain yesterday. Nikel got up and got ready. He went to Blaine's room where Kurt's been staying since Zach went into the hospital. They let him in and he sat on Sammy's bed which Kurt technically took over.<p>

"You look really tired, Nikel." Blaine observed, while Kurt was in the bathroom finishing getting ready.

"I dreamt of Zach last night." Was all he said.

Kurt came into the room, "Ready to go?"

Nikel sighed, "I never want to go the hospital. I want to see Zach. Its not fair he's there."

"Jamie's still being held in jail?"

"Yep, attorneys refuse to go to court until Zach's fates a little more definite or some shit."

Nikel's phone started to ring. He stilled when he looked at the number. Quietly he answered the phone. He didn't say anything beyond hello. Only listened and hung up the phone. Blaine and Kurt watched him fall to his knees, crying. Completely inconsolable. They didn't have to ask who called.

Zach suffered a final seizure and an aneurysm. The doctors tried, but there was nothing they could do. His body had been failing. Death was kind they said. Nikel couldn't agree.

_Yeah yeah  
>I'll keep you locked in my head<br>Until we meet again  
>Until we<br>Until we meet again  
>And I won't forget you my friend<br>What happened_

_If someone said three years from now  
>You'd be long gone<br>I'd stand up and punch them out  
>Cause they're all wrong and<br>That last kiss  
>I'll cherish<br>Until we meet again  
>And time makes<br>It harder  
>I wish I could remember<br>But I keep  
>Your memory<br>You visit me in my sleep  
>My Darling<br>Who knew_

* * *

><p>That was the hardest thing I've ever had to write.<p> 


End file.
